European replacement market catching up with 2012

After a weak start to the year, replacement market tyre sales in Europe displayed signs of recovery in the third quarter; unit sales for the first nine months of 2013 are almost at the same level as the same period last year. Europool ETRMA figures show the consumer replacement market to be just 2.1 per cent below last year, with 148.80 million tyres sold in Europe between the start of January and the end of September. Replacement truck tyre sales rose 6.8 per cent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2013 to 6.48 million units, while agricultural and moto/scooter tyre sales remained static at 1.35 million and 6.77 million units respectively.