The degree of individualisation that goes into commercial vehicles selling for six-figure sums is much higher than for passenger cars. In the world’s largest truck assembly plant, the Mercedes Benz facility in the German town of Wörth, more than 100,000 vehicles are manufactured during the course of a year, and not a single one has an identical twin. One component affected by the uniqueness of each vehicle is the tyre. When ordering a new truck the freight forwarder or fleet operator can select what tyre he would like to see fitted to his new acquisition. In the past such a choice formed an integral part of each purchase and led to the situation where Michelin held enormous quantities of shares in a number of truck manufacturers, in some cases to the extent that supply amounted to “single sourcing.”

In recent times this situation has become much less pronounced, and this shift was accompanied by Michelin declaring a change in strategy at the Commercial Vehicle IAA in 2004, indicating that they wished to shift their focus more towards the aftermarket business. Nevertheless, Michelin remains the undisputed market leader in Europe (see chart). Today, Peter Matzke (Continental’s global head of Original Equipment Truck Tires) estimates the proportion of consumers desiring a particular brand of tyre for a tractor unit or bus at somewhere between 10 and 20 per cent. This figure varies from one brand of truck to another and is also affected on whether the vehicle is intended for long distance, suburban or off the road use.