European tire sales continue to drop, ETRMA says

BRUSSELS—Replacement market tire demand continues to decline throughout Europe due to a "complex interplay" of factors, such as the continued increases in the cost of raw materials, energy, logistics and labor, the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers' Association said this week.

Sales data from ETRMA member companies for the quarter ended Sept. 30 "confirms a negative market trend" that began in the same quarter of last year, the Brussels-based trade association said.

Sales of consumer replacement tires during the third quarter fell 6.5 percent from the year-ago period to 54.3 million units despite a positive trend in vehicle registrations.

Demand in Europe for replacement truck/bus tires fell 6.6 percent from a year ago to 3.04 million units.

Hardest hit were the agricultural and motorcycle/scooter tire markets, with declines of 20.6 percent and 20.2 percent respectively, compared with the 2022 period.

"This inflationary landscape has led to a significant drop in demand, which is likely causing a corresponding reduction in inventory, ETRMA Secretary General Adam McCarthy said.

A further issue is that the "replacement pool market is likely losing market share to non-pool tire manufacturers," the ETRMA added.

For the first nine months of the year, replacement market sales for:

• Consumer tires were down 11.3 percent to 158.5 million units;
• Truck/bus tires were down 17.9 percent to 8.61 million units;
• Agricultural tires were down 32.2 percent to 547,000 units; and
• Moto/scooter tires were down 21 percent to 6.68 million units.

The trade group does not publish data covering original-equipment shipments.

The ETRMA has 14 tire-manufacturing companies among its members, whose corporate sales represent 70% of total global sales.

The ETRMA's data refer to markets in 35 European countries, stretching from Ireland in the West to Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and the Baltics in the East plus Malta and Turkey.