Analysts: US Replacement Tyre Market Recovering

In the US, RMA members reported that replacement tyre demand grew 9.3 per cent year-on-year in December 2009, from a drop of -16.0 per cent the year before. Financial analysts pointed out that the overall market volume grew 6.1 per cent, implying that domestic tyre manufacturers (namely Cooper Tire and Goodyear) continued to experience market share gains. The is believed to be a result of last year’s Chinese-made tyre tariffs as Chinese produced tyres reportedly occupied 16.6 per cent of the US market in 2008.

Deutsche Bank analysts were quick to interpret the data’s impact of Cooper and Goodyear’s financial results: “On an annual basis, 1 per cent incremental North American volume [growth] would add $0.10 to Goodyear and $0.11 to Cooper’s results.”

The analysts currently expect Goodyear and Cooper’s volumes to grow 4 and 13 per cent compared with -4 and -22 per cent respectively.

‘Europe has experienced strong winter tyre sales’

In a further investor’s note published today (13 January 2010, Deutsche Bank pointed described the North American fourth quarter 2009 market recovery as a “meaningful volume uptick.” Meanwhile Europe is said to have experienced “strong sales of winter tyres.” In addition industry trends in Asia are said to have been encouraging, with Goodyear “particularly exposed to Australia, which has experienced a strong recovery as rising commodity prices have boosted that economy.”