What Will Reifen 2010's 550 Exhibitors Bring to the Show?

With tyre businesses forced to face the unprecedented combination of global recession, high raw material costs and increasingly thorough legislative demands, the two years since the last Essen show have been some of the toughest in the market’s history. And yet, if you will excuse the pun, the tyre business seems to have a perpetual ability to “bounce back” in the face of adversity. In fact some brands – largely those operating in the mid and upper mid range segments – actually outperformed their pre-recession sales records, resulting in increased market share at least in terms of units sales.

That said, all businesses have had to cope with the same credit crunch-induced reticence amongst consumers to spend any money at all, while at the same time having to deal with (either directly for the manufacturers or indirectly for those importing, wholesaling and trading) high input costs for raw materials such as natural rubber.

So, with this all in mind and acknowledging that the credit crunch brought a number of mergers and acquisitions in its wake that mean some brand names have changed hands and some personnel have moved businesses, what will those exhibiting in Essen be showing in June? Last time, despite consistently high UHP and 4×4 tyre unit sales in the medium term, high performance orientated products didn’t hold the prominent position they once did. Instead environmental issues, perhaps prompted by REACH and s-marking legislation, seemed to shape the product narrative. As a result large diameter, low profile, high speed rated products were replaced with large diameter, low profile, “fuel efficient” tyres.

This time round there is more legislation due (tyre labelling) and the size trends are unlikely to show any great deviation from the existing trajectory – perhaps with the exception of a few more narrower section width products, owing to the better rolling resistance properties of tyres designed this way, than there might otherwise have been. The meaning attached to fuel efficiency (read low rolling resistance) products however is likely to be re-framed to emphasise the economic benefits these products have to offer. Sure, a tyre that requires less fuel to get and keep it moving (and therefore produces less carbon dioxide per kilometre) has environmental benefits, but those tyre companies in a position to offer significant fuel consumption reductions are likely to market these in terms of the money they save, making green issues a secondary benefit.

Those companies not in a position to offer a quantifiable rolling resistance benefit will no-doubt emphasise the positive tread wear characteristics of their tyres, cost per mile and even plain old price and seek make a similar economic case. But let’s be clear, performance tyres (and products across all segments that sell on a comparable basis) will still be there. What will change is the manner in which they are presented and their prominence in general (see following pages for examples of companies and products on show in June).

Noticeable by their absence…

As has already been mentioned, this year’s show will feature over 550 exhibitors from 40 nations and 17,000 visitors from over 100 countries. With so many tyre companies on show, some of the largest tyre companies end up standing out not for their weird and wonderful stand designs or their high technology products, but simply by their absence. Bridgestone, Nokian and Toyo are three such names that immediately spring to mind. None of them are likely to want to draw attention to the fact that they aren’t investing in a stand at this year’s show by issuing a statement explaining why they won’t be there this time, but economic pressures no-doubt play a part.

Tyres & Accessories understands that Toyo Tire Europe GmbH decided not to participate at Essen Reifen 2010 “to reduce costs and to reflect their current business position.” According to company representatives, “With 100 per cent utilization of manufacturing capacity, it would not be appropriate to seek new business now and potentially disrupt supply to existing clients.” As a result, this year Toyo Tire Europe says it will work with its headquarters to satisfy the demand from existing clients so they can develop the Toyo Tires business in each market “in a stable and controlled manner.”

However, while companies such as the three mentioned above (and no doubt a fair portion of others) aren’t investing in exhibition stands, they are clearly exceptions and this doesn’t mean they won’t be in attendance at all. In Toyo’s case for example, they – like Cooper Europe (who are back in force for Reifen 2010) did last time round – have rented meeting rooms at a hotel near the Messe centre and arranged meetings and dinners with all its existing clients that are attending the show.

As far as Tyres & Accessories is concerned, our preparation for what is likely to be the largest gathering place in the European tyre business this year will conclude with our two-part Essen pre-show coverage, which began in last month’s April issue with a further selection of news stories previewing the people, products and companies on show in June. If you want to share your experiences of the show, subscribe to the magazine, website or free e-Newsletter or just want to make a suggestion, why not drop by our stand in hall 3 – 236?

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