Tyre markets continue to grow in May

ERJ staff report (DS)

Milan, Italy -- Pirelli has updated its website with tyre sales for the month of May and the first five months of 2011. Truck and OE markets continued to do well, while tyre volumes in Japan appeared to be up strongly, after two months of poor performance after the March earthquake therei.

The company reports only percentage changes, not absolute numbers.

Pirelli said European truck tyre replacement sales increased by 16 percent in the first five months, helped by a May figure up by 20 percent compared with a year ago. European OE figures recovered from April's dip, showing an increase of 67 percent in the year to date and 60 percent in May, up from just 16 percent growth the previous month.

OE truck tyre sales in the NAFTA region also recovered significantly, increasing by 61 percent in the year to date, and by 66 percent in the most recent month, compared with just 17 percent growth in April. On the replacement side, however sales slowed, with an increase of 12 percent in the first five months but a decline of 6 percent in May. Sales data for the Mercosur region showed level OE sales in the first five months, and 12 perent growth in the month of May. On the replacement side, growth in the year to date was 8 percent, with the May figure up by 7 perent. China data for May was not available but Pirelli said the OE sales in April were down by 4 percent, but up by 7 percent in the first four months. The replacement market was up by just one percent in the first four months.

Replacement sales in Japan showed 19 percent growth over the first five months of 2011 though the replacement figure was up by 16 percent in the month of May, showing a continued post-tsunami recovery from the 18 percent decline seen in March..

In the car and light truck segment, sales were less healthy. European OE sales were up by 7 percent for the first five months, but remained in negative territory, with a 1 percent decline in the month of May. Replacement sales were up by 5 percent in the year to date and up by 8 percent in May.

North American (NAFTA) sales of car and light truck tyres grew. On the replacement side, sales in the five months were up by just 1 percent, pulled down by a decline of 10 percent in May. On the OE side, the first five months saw growth of 10 percent, while May sales increased by just 4 percent. In the Mercosur region, OE sales were up by 8 percent in the first five months with an increase of 7 percent in the month of May. Replacement sales were recovered from last month, with the year so far the same as 2010, but up by 8 percent in the month of May.

May sales data from China were not yet available but the OE figure for April was down by 1 percent while OE sales for the first four months were up by 5 percent. Replacement sales for the first four months were up by 14 percent. Japanese sales of replacement tyres grew by 17 percent in the first five months helped by an increase of 44 percent in the month of May.

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Press release from Pirelli