Passenger Car Tyre Markets Show Strong Growth in Feb – Michelin

Michelin’s market data for February 2010 shows a marked strengthening of passenger car and light commercial vehicle sales to OEM customers in a number of key regions. The OE passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyre market grew 47.0 per cent year-on-year in Europe (including Turkey but excluding Russia), 54.4 per cent in North America and 49.9 per cent in China. This gives a year-to-date growth of 42.9 per cent, 77.6 per cent and 91.3 per cent for the three respective regions.

Growth was also witnessed in the replacement market. Sales of aftermarket passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres grew 1.0 per cent year-on-year in Europe, 9.9 per cent in North America and 1.2 per cent in China. Year-to-date, replacement market growth for these three markets is 3.4 per cent, 5.1 per cent and 21.6 per cent.

In the commercial vehicle tyre sector, Europe continued to be the exception to the rule in terms of OEM sales. The OE sector market shrank 3.1 per cent year-on-year within this region during February, despite growth occurring in many world markets: The OE commercial vehicle tyre market grew 12.8 per cent in North America, 67.7 per cent in Brazil, 68.5 per cent in Japan and 21.3 per cent in China. Year-to-date, the European OEM market has decreased 12.2 per cent, while market growth in the other four markets has been 8.5 per cent, 54.5 per cent, 61.4 per cent and 15.8 per cent respectively.

Europe’s commercial vehicle replacement tyre market fared better. The market jumped 32.1 per cent in February, while the North American market grew 15.3 per cent. Replacement market growth in Brazil reached 28.2 per cent, while in Japan and China respective growth of 20.6 per cent and 14.9 per cent was recorded. Year-to-date, The European commercial vehicle tyre replacement market grew 28.0 per cent, while the North American grew 14.8 per cent. Growth in the other three main markets was 37.9 per cent, 11.2 per cent and 12.0 per cent.