European replacement tire volumes dip in third quarter

Brussels – The European replacement tire market declined during the third quarter of 2022, signalling a “probable market reversal" after a period of recovery seen since last year.

Over the three months to 30 Sept, replacement consumer tire volumes fell 9% year-on-year to 58 million units, according to new data from the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA).

Withi the consumer tire segment, summer tires saw the biggest decline at 19%, followed by winter tires at 7% and all-season tires at 5%, noted ETRMA's quarterly report issued 25 Oct.

In the first nine months of 2022, volumes remained positive at 1% with 175 million units sold, helped by a 14% overall improvement in all-season tires over the first three quarters.

Similar to consumer tires, the truck and bus tire market declined 9% year-on-year to 3.2 million units during the third quarter.

Year-to-date, hovever, the truck and bus segment remained positive at 4% with 10.5 million units sold over the first nine months.

The farm tire segment saw the sharpest decline during the three months to end of September, registering a 28% drop to 191,000 units.

Overall, the farm tire segment saw a 9% year-on-year decline for the first nine months of the year with 790,000 units sold.

The two-wheeler tires market, meanwhile, declined 6% year-on-year at 2.0 million units in the thrid quarter. Year-to-date figures were up 2% at 8.4 million units.

Commenting on the figures, ETRMA secretary general Fazilet Cinaralp said the industry had observed a “slowdown in demand” over the recent months.

The downturn, she said, added to existing challenges around a “massive increase of costs,” as well as strains on the supply of raw materials, energy, logistics and labour.

“If the inflationary trend and supply tensions persist, we can fear a very difficult year-end 2022 and year 2023,” the ETRMA leader concluded.