Michelin releases tyre market information for year to December

ERJ staff report (DS)

Paris - Michelin has updated its website with market data for the month of December.

The new data shows that December was a mixed month for tyre sales generally, with US markets continuing to be affected by poor demand.

Michelin said the total European OE market for car tyres in the twelve months to December 2007 was up by 4.5 percent, although the market fell by 1.4 percent in december, compare with December 2006. The site gives only percentage changes, not absolute numbers. For North America, the equivalent figures were a decline of 1.8 percent for the twelve-month period and a year-on-year decrease in December of 13.5 percent.

In the replacement business, Europe was significantly weaker, with the twelve-month figures  declining by 1.6 percent and the one-month figures down by 13.3 percent. In North America, the replacement market increased by 3.0 percent in the first twelve months reflecting an increase of 2.3 percent in the month of December. China's growth continued to be healthy with full-year figures showing growth of  19 percent.

In Truck OE sales, Europe continued to show rapid growth with a 18.6 percent increase in the  twelve month period, while the December figure was up 17.7 percent on the previous year. The appalling decline in North American truck OE sales continues to accelerate, with sales in the first twelve months down by 32 percent, made worse by a massive 46.1 percent decline in December alone. In Brazil, however, the twelve months showed a healthy 34.5 percent gain, although the rate of increase may be slowing, with the figure for December up by just 12.7 percent.

Truck replacement tyres showed a similar, though less extreme tendency. European truck tyre markets were up 2.8 percent in the twelve months, reflecting a 4.9 percent decline in December. North America showed a decline of 2.0 percent in the year to December although this was boosted slightly by an increase of 0.7 percent in the single month. The Brazil market however, grew by 16.5 percent in the first twelve months with the December figure up by 21.4 percent. Japanese replacement truck tyre sales were almost static, with all the gains in the first eleven months wiped out by a 12.4 percent decline in December. The market ended up growing by just 0.2 percent in the year to date.

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Press release from Michelin