BRUSSELS—Replacement tire demand in Europe continues to be a mixed bag through the first nine months of 2019, with passenger tire and farm tire shipments down and truck and two-wheel tire shipments up, according to the latest industry statistics.
The report, from the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA), covers 36 European countries, stretching from Ireland in the west to Poland and Romania in the east and includes input from 14 tire makers with operations in Europe.
Passenger tire shipments fell 2 percent in the third quarter to 58.4 million units and 3 percent for the nine months to 159.4 million, the ETRMA said.
Truck and bus tire shipments fell 2.1 percent in the quarter to 2.98 million units, but were up 2.5 percent for the nine months to 8.13 million units.
Farm tire shipments fell 8.4 percent in the quarter to 798,000 units, pushing down shipments for the January-September period 5.6 percent to 954,000 units.
Motorcycle tire shipments dropped 1.7 percent in the quarter to 1.84 million units, but shipments for the three quarters through September were up 2 percent to 7.99 million units.
The ETRMA did not comment on reasons for the market developments, other than to say both winter and summer passenger tire sales have declined, while all-season tire sales picked up, but not enough to compensate for the losses in the other two segments.
Brussels-based ETRMA's tire company membership includes Apollo Tyres Ltd.; Bridgestone Corp.; Bridgestone BRISA; Continental A.G.; Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.; Goodyear Europe; Hankook Tire Co. Ltd.; Marangoni Group; Michelin; Nokian Tyres P.L.C.; Pirelli Tyre; Prometeon; Sumitomo Rubber Industries; and Trelleborg Wheel Systems.
ETRMA also gleans information from national trade associations in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom