British car manufacturing in decline, based on sustained domestic demand fall
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has announced a -4.4 per cent decline in British car manufacturing, as production for the home market fell by double figures. Exports declined in the month too, but only by -0.8 per cent, with 117,139 vehicles shipped overseas, accounting for more than 80 per cent of output.
Moody’s report forecasts bleak year for UK car sales
A report from credit agency Moody’s, featured in the Financial Mail on Sunday, predicts that car sales in the UK in 2018 will be the worst in Europe with sales of new cars expected to fall by -5.5 per cent.
Brand Finance: Dunlop value up 80%, Pirelli falls back
While the headline Brand Finance ranking news is the resurgence of Michelin as well as the growth of the Chinese brands, Dunlop and Pirelli’s performance in the Brand Finance ranking is also worth noting – for completely different reasons.
Toyo Tires: Nano process improves energy efficiency in truck tyres
Rubber material development teams at Toyo Tire & Rubber (Toyo Tires) have been working on the company’s ‘Nano Balance Technology’ since 2011, and have now developed a new process development technology that improves fuel efficiency in truck and bus tyres.
Moody’s stabilises auto manufacturing outlook as economic recovery fuels demand
Increased consumer car demand due to improving global economic prospects and a lowering of the rating agencys sales growth requirements for the sector have changed the outlook on the global auto manufacturing industry over the next 12 to 18 months to stable from negative, says Moodys Investors Service in a report (Automotive manufacturing -- Global, Outlook update: Changing outlook to stable amid improving business environment) published 14 March.
The Michelin brand’s value has grown some 30 per cent to US$7.9 billion in the latest Brand Finance Tyres 10 ranking. As a result Bibendum is now the world’s most valuable tyre brand.
Motorcycle sales up in February, scooter sales drop
The Motor Cycle Industry Association is encouraged by the small rise in demand for motorcycles, though with the caveat that scooter registrations have declined. “Demand for motorcycles in February was up 1.2 per cent on the same period last year, registering 3943 units. However, scooter registrations were down -2.1 per cent,” said Stephen Latham, head of the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA), which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK.
Preliminary figures for Continental’s 2017 financial year were presented today and show an 8.5 per cent growth in sales, to 44 billion euros, and an EBIT margin of 10.9 per cent. With these two figures, the tyre maker and technology provider states that it surpassed its targets for the year. Net income increased 6.5 per cent year-on-year to 3 billion, which equates to earnings of 14.92 euros per share.
Michelin the number one consumer researched tyre brand: Tyre Reviews
Consumers are increasingly likely to research their tyres online pre-purchase, regardless of whether they complete an e-commerce transaction. Peer review website Tyre Reviews has therefore become an influential destination in the car tyre market: discussing Tyre Reviews’s audience, owner, Jonathan Benson, states that 94 per cent of Tyre Reviews visitors are engaged in the tyre buying process, with its users predominantly “high earning, well educated, male automotive enthusiasts looking for the best possible product for their vehicle.” In 2017, the site delivered 25 million pageviews to tyre buyers, and claims to have influenced around “one-sixth of UK tyre sales.”
The UK’s new light commercial vehicle (LCV) market fell -4.2 per cent in January 2018, according to the latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The decline amounts to just 888 fewer vans being driven off forecourts in the first month of the year, compared with 2017.
January motorcycle sales – all sectors show growth
The latest figures released by the Motor Cycle Industry Association have shown an increase in demand for motorcycles, but it is not time to get carried away by this apparent success, according to the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA). “Demand for motorcycles in January was up 11.8 per cent on the same period last year, registering 5,458 units. However, this was expected as last year the market was flooded with a high volume of pre-registered bikes for sale,” said Stephen Latham, head of the NMDA.
The UK new car market declined in the first month of the year, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). 163,615 cars were driven off forecourts in January, a -6.3 per cent fall compared with the same month in 2017.
The car tyre market is growing in size – at least in terms of rim diameter. According to the latest UK car tyre market sell-out data produced by market research specialists GfK, 39 per cent of market is now made up of 17-inch and larger rim diameter products. And what’s more the trend points to continued growth. The GfK Point of Sales Tracking data compares figures from January to December 2016 with those from January 2017 to December 2017 in order to produce the comparisons published here.
The National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA) which represents motorcycle retailers across the UK, is expecting 2018 to be a challenging year for the motorcycle industry. The association has carried out extensive economic research in order to estimate the size of the foreseeable market for this year, taking into account the strong global economy which has a predicted growth of 3.9 per cent in 2018, and the sterling which is back to its pre-Brexit strength of $1.40.
Car tyre prices recover in 2017, but still catching up
A year after we predicted that car tyre prices would rise during 2017 as part of last year’s car tyre feature, the latest data provided by tyre market research specialists Encircle Marketing shows that prices are indeed recovering. However, while tyre prices recovered to 2016 levels during 2017, there is still some way to go before average prices reach 2015 levels. Encircle’s latest figures examine the shape of the traditional tyre retail market and the online tyre market.
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