Global tyres sales still down, but not out -- Michelin

ERJ staff report (DS)

Paris - Michelin has updated its website with tyre market data for the month of September. The September figures show further universal declines in demand, with two exceptions: the third consecutive monthly increase in replacement car tyre sales in North America and improved car and truck tyre sales in China. Truck tyre sales are still falling all around the world outside China, though the pace of the decline is slowing.

In the OE truck tyre segment, every market in the world including China fell in the month of September and for the first nine months. Chinese sales fell, despite earlier signs of a sporadic recovery. Europe's sharp decline has continued. The site gives only percentage changes, not absolute numbers.

The year so far saw a dramatic 66.8percent decrease in European sales with no sign of short term recovery. September's sales fell by 62.4 percent year on year. The dreadful decline in North American truck OE sales has continued, with sales in the first nine months down by 44.2 percent, though the fall in September was lower, at 33.6 percent.

The Brazilian market's sharp slowdown continued in September. The year to date showed a fall of 31.0 percent, with the September figures down by 29.8 percent. Japan's situation is no better, with sales in the year to date running 58.7percent below the same period in 2008. September's decline was almost as bad, at 47.8 percent lower than the same month a year ago. China saw weaker OE sales in September, continuing the stop-start recovery pattern, with OE sales down by just 1.9 percent in the year to date, following a 9.2 percent decline in the month of September.

Truck replacement tyres in September showed a similar picture, though marginally less bad. European truck tyre markets fell by 25.9 percent in the first nine months, eased slightly by a 16.2 percent decline in September. North America fell by 15.9 percent in the year to September, again eased slightly by a decline of just 10.9 percent in the year-on-year figure.

In Brazil, a year-on-year fall of 8.0 percent slowed the nine-month figure somewhat to a decline of 19.7 percent. The sharp decline in Japanese replacement truck tyre sales eased significantly in September, down by 33.2 percent in the year to date and by just 7.4 percent in the month of September. China sales for the month grew by 15.8 percent in September, bringing the decline in the first nine months to just 1.0 percent.

As has been recorded elsewhere, the OE car business continues to struggle, though the figures in September are an improvement on the August numbers. Michelin said the total European OE market for car tyres in the nine months to September 2008 was down by 28.8 percent, while the year-on-year figure for September dropped by 8.2 percent. The North American market continued its downtrend, but at a much slower pace, with the equivalent figures showing a decline of 41.1 percent for the nine-month period and a year-on-year decrease in September of 9.8 percent.

China, however recovered sharply. OE demand in China was up by 34.9 percent in the year to date and up by 20.0 percent in September

In the replacement business, the decline in Europe continued. In September the nine-month figures showed a fall of 10.0 percent while the one-month figure fell by just 9.2 percent. In North America, the replacement market fell by 5.8 percent in the first nine months, eased somewhat by the third consecutive month of growth - a small increase of 2.7 percent in the most recent month. Chinese replacement sales continued to grow, showing growth of 14.8 percent in the year to date and 16.0 percent in the most recent month.

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Press release from Michelin