For a long time people have referred to the European tyre market in general and the UK tyre market in particular as mature markets. This kind of maturity is generally taken to mean low growth markets that are already well developed. Here markets are significant in size and 1 to 2 per cent growth per annum is normal.

However, a number of recent market research reports give us the opportunity to reconsider this assumption on two grounds – firstly, with technology developing as it is, quantitative growth should be considered in a wider context; and secondly there is the qualitative question.