By contrast, replacement sales in North America and China were ahead of 2019 levels, while replacement market sales in the Europe/Middle Asia/Africa region were slightly below 2019 levels, Conti said, without providing specifics.
Looking ahead, Conti said both pricing and product mix continue to develop "favorably," especially in the Americas and EMEA, while earnings headwinds are expected to be "even stronger" in the fourth quarter.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the tire unit's operating income nearly tripled to $1.61 billion on 18.2 percent higher sales of $10.2 billion, yielding an operating ratio of 15.8 percent.
The tires business area continued to benefit from the strong replacement-tire business for trucks and passenger cars, Conti said, while rising raw material costs are having an "increasingly detrimental impact" on the business.
Overall, Continental reported a 42.4-percent drop in third-quarter adjusted pre-tax operating income, to $494.1 billion, on 7.4 percent lower sales of $9.43 billion, reflecting "significantly" lower vehicle production. As a result, the adjusted operating ratio fell three-plus points to 5.2 percent.
Net income totaled $364.4 million a drop of 57 percent.
Looking ahead, Conti expects global markets to remain "highly volatile" in the coming months, given the ongoing shortages of semiconductor components as well as uncertainties in the supply chain and customer demand, according to Wolfgang Schäfer, chief financial officer.
