Michelin aftermarket SUV tire sales surge

PARIS (Aug. 6)—Michelin North America Inc.'s sales of sport-utility vehicle tires to replacement market customers jumped 27.3 percent in the first half of 2001, boosting the company's market share in that high value-added segment more than three percentage points to 27.8 percent, parent Group Michelin said in its half-year results. Michelin said the overall market for these type tires grew 12.9 percent, aided only slightly by the first month of the Ford Motor Co. replacement program for 13 million Firestone Wilderness tires. Included in Michelin's increase was 63.5-percent growth by the company's Michelin branded products. In original equipment, Michelin's shipments of Michelin-branded car and light truck tires were relatively stable (down 0.6 percent), whereas overall OE demand for consumer tires slid 13 percent. Michelin's overall shipments to OE customers in North America were off 10 percent, reflecting lower sales of the company's BF Goodrich- and Uniroyal-brand tires to the car makers.