Michelin’s February tyre demand data shows a sequential improvement in replacement demand in most markets. With China and Brazil being the only real exceptions, basically every other showed month-on-month increases – the first positive uptick months.

The situation in China however, is somewhat bleaker. According to the Michelin tyre demand data, Chinese passenger car tyre replacement demand dropped -13 per cent from growth of +18 per cent in January. “This is a worrying indicator for broader China consumer demand”, Morgan Stanley market analysts wrote in an investor’s note data 13 March 2015.