Sales of SUV tyres continue to drive growth in the UK 4×4 tyre replacement market, with UHP-orientated tyres growing even faster. According to the latest data provided by market analysts GfK, these trends have come while there have been no clear changes in the market’s brand segmentation, which suggests product mix and volume growth must be behind the improvement.
4×4/SUV and UHP markets continued to grow in 2018
As part of our review of 2018, Tyres & Accessories asked market research specialists to give an overview of some of the key trends that have taken place in the UK car, 4×4 and light truck replacement tyre market trends during the course of the year. In doing so, we have a good foundation for looking forward into 2019 and beyond. What we found was that UK tyre replacement market is increasingly high-performance and increasingly high-value.
GfK’s Panelmarket data compares the period between November 2016 and October 2017 with November 2017 to October 2018. Reading left to right, the infographic below shows the percentage share of the panelmarket broken down by vehicle type (passenger car, 4×4 including SUV and light commercial vehicle); key changes in the panelmarket during the last 12 months broken down by rim diameter; brand tier split; and the two five tyre sizes.
2018 has been an important year for the European and UK truck tyre markets. With anti Chinese-produced truck tyre tariffs having been introduced in May, some sources – especially those focusing on retreading – are already reporting a positive uptick in demand as a result of reduced numbers of Chinese-produced tyres. But how does this translate into the new tyre market? Here Tyres & Accessories considers the latest data from market research specialists GfK, with a particular focus on the UK new truck tyre replacement market.
Apollo Vredestein says it is “well-placed to fulfil the UK demand” highlighted by data that was recently released by GfK Panelmarket. The tyre maker is referring to all-season tyres and opines that the Vredestein all-season range is “perfectly positioned to answer a trend which shows significant growth of all-season in SUV fitments and even more dramatic for ultra-high-performance tyres.”
There are signs of significant growth at the top end of the all-season tyre segment, with volume and value skyrocketing in the ultra-high performance tyre segment. According to GfK Panelmarket data comparing figures from July 2016 to June 2017 with the period between July 2017 to June 2018, sales of all-season tyres are up a healthy 9 per cent overall.
The UK’s high performance tyre sector – in this case defined by tyre diameters of 17” and above – has continued its growth trend, but at a very much slower rate than in 2017.
The latest data from market analysis specialists GfK suggests that the market is predominantly made up of regional usage 22.5-inch tyres – a trend that is increasing year-on-year. Here Tyres & Accessories takes a look at the latest market data from a number of sources in order to give an overview of current trends. This article focuses on data provided by GfK, but – owing to the fact that it is current hot topic – also analyses different estimates about how many tyres are made in China, something that is outside the scope of the data provided by GfK and therefore our conclusions on this point are something quite separate to GfK’s input.
In our February Car Tyre feature, Tyres & Accessories published some of the latest UK tyre replacement market trends data produced by GfK. That data suggested that SUV tyre sales data was a key driver of both increased rim size as well as volume and value growth in the market. This month, as part of our SUV tyres feature, we take a closer look at the trends in the 4×4 and SUV sector specifically and find that the trends are repeated and developed within the sector.
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.
According to a study carried out for Kumho Tire, sales of all-season tyres in the UK are only a little over half the European average. Kumho contracted market research institute GfK to look at all-season tyre sales in ten European countries; GfK found that four per cent of tyre buyers in the UK opted for all-season products.
The viability of a sustained winter tyre market in the UK has long been categorised as doubtful, with sales rarely climbing to 2 per cent. Meanwhile recent improvements in tyre technology and the introduction of products looking to change their perception, led by the Michelin CrossClimate’s success in the fleet market, have seen all-season tyres become an increasingly attractive proposition.
The UK ultra-high performance sector (defined as 17-inch diameters and above) now represents some 38.8 per cent of the UK tyre market. That’s according to the latest market data produced by experts at GfK whose Point of Sales Tracking data compared sales in the period between May 2015 to April 2016 with May 2016 to April 2017. In order to better understand the high performance sector, Tyres & Accessories took a close look at the latest GfK information.
CAM has announced it will sever its ties with the market research company GfK, coinciding with the emergence of the Tyre Intelligence Europe data platform. CAM will relinquish its role in extracting data provided by regional and independent dealers through the agency of its software systems on GfK’s behalf. The service to extract data from customer systems will cease at midnight on 31 March 2017.
GfK reports that 2016 was a successful year for tyre manufacturers in the UK. This is said to have been driven by “the increasing number of SUVs on the road”, which naturally does its part to improve product mix. To be specific, according to GfK, 4×4 tyre sales leapt up 18 per cent in terms of units sold year-on-year. However, taking the year as a whole (including other passenger vehicle fitments), last year GfK’s Panel Market GB was flat.
No review of 2016 would be complete without a look at some market data. During the course of researching this feature Tyres & Accessories asked market research specialists GfK to share some key insights into what has been happening in the UK tyre retail market during the last year or so. GfK’s data is contained in the infographic below and discussed here by us. Clearly 2016 hadn’t come to an end at that point, so the data reflects GfK’s Point of Sales Tracking information comparing November 2014 to October 2015 with November 2015 to October 2016.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.