BRUSSELS, Belgium—Aftermarket tire demand in Europe showed signs of recovery in the third quarter from the COVID-19-impacted first half, but full-year shipments still are expected to fall measurably short of the 2019 totals.
Aftermarket demand for truck/bus, agricultural and two-wheeler tires during the quarter were ahead of the 2019 period, according to European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers' Association (ETRMA) figures, but shipments of consumer tires continued to lag behind the 2019 pace.
Demand for consumer tires (passenger, SUV, light truck) is expected to continue to lag behind 2019, ETRMA said, as individual countries' measures to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic are limiting their citizens' transit demands.
Consumer tire shipments fell 1.9 percent in the quarter to 60.4 million units, pushing down the January-September total 14.4 percent to 143.5 million units, the ETRMA figures show.
By contrast, shipments of truck/bus tires rose 2.9 percent in the quarter to 3.6 million units, helping to cut the nine-month shipment deficit to 8 percent, or 8.7 million units.
Likewise, shipments of agricultural tires jumped 11.6 percent in the quarter to 293,000 units, reducing the year-to-date deficit versus 2019 to 3 percent, 899,000 units.
Demand for motorcycle, scooter, etc. tires jumped 26.7 percent in the quarter to 2.36 million units, but shipments for the nine-month period were 11.7 percent behind 2019 at 7.12 million units.