Global truck tyre sales in freefall in November - Michelin

ERJ staff report (DS)

Paris - Michelin has updated its website with tyre market data for the month of November. The new data from November shows near-universal declines in demand outside Asia, with the truck sector hit especially hard.

In radial truck OE sales, every market in the world fell in the month of November. Europe's growth appears to have reversed sharply. Although the first eleven months saw an increase of 2.5 percent, November's sales fell by 36.1 percent year on year. The appalling decline in North American truck OE sales has continued, with sales in the first eleven months down by 16.3 percent, made even worse  by a fall in November of 25 percent.

The Brazilian market slowed sharply in November. Although sales were up by 17.1 percent in the year to date, the growth rate in the month of November turned negative, at 6.2 percent decline. It was a similar story in China, with sales up by 5.8 percent in the year to date but down by 27.5 percent in the month of November. Japanese OE sales also reversed, showing a growth of 15.4 percent in the year to date, although the monthly growth in November also turned negative, at -26.5 percent.

Truck replacement tyres also moved to negative growth throughout the world in November. European truck tyre markets fell by 6.8 percent in the first eleven months, made worse by a 25.7 percent decline in November. North America fell by 6.7 percent in the year to November, and 18.7 percent in the year-on-year figure. In Brazil, a year-on-year fall of 21.1 percent slowed the eleven-month figure growth to 18.7 percent. Asian replacement markets were also weak, with China showing 10.8 percent growth in the year to November, but this masked a decline of 24 percent in the most recent month. Japanese truck tyre sales fell sharply in November. The 28.1 percent decline bringing the year-to-date figure to a decline of 5.8 percent.

Michelin said the total European OE market for car tyres in the eleven months to November 2008 was down by 5.1 percent, while the year-on-year figure for November dropped by a massive 33.5 percent, even worse than the 21.3 percent recorded for October. The site gives only percentage changes, not absolute numbers. The North American market continued its downtrend, with the equivalent figures showing a decline of 15.4 percent for the eleven-month period and a year-on-year decrease in November of 31.2 percent.

In the replacement business, the decline in Europe accelerated in November, with the eleven-month figures showing a fall of 4.7 percent and the one-month figure down by 10.3 percent. In North America, the replacement market fell by 5.4 percent in the first eleven months, exacerbated by a decline in November of 20.2 percent.

Chinese replacement sales were a single bright spot, with the increase in the year to date running at 19.2 percent, with the November-November sales up by 17 percent.

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Press release from Michelin