Michelin releases tyre market data for April

ERJ staff report (DS)

Paris - Michelin has updated its website with tyre market data for the month of April. The new data shows that April was a mixed month for tyre sales generally.

Michelin said the total European OE market for car tyres in the four months to April 2008 was up by 5.2 percent, helped by a year-on-year rise for April of 18 percent. The site gives only percentage changes, not absolute numbers. The North American market continued its downtrend, with the equivalent figures showing a decline of 8.5 percent for the four-month period and a year-on-year decrease in April of 7.1 percent.

In the replacement business, the decline in Europe reversed in April, although the four-month figures still show a fall of 1.3 percent,the one-month figure was up by 4.4 percent. In North America, the replacement market fell by 1.6percent in the first four months, while the month of April was level, falling by just 0.2 percent.

Chinese replacement sales continued to grow, with the increase in the year to date running at 19 percent.

In radial truck OE sales, Europe's growth recovered with a 12.9 percent increase in the first four months, accelerated by a 28 percent increase in April. The appalling decline in North American truck OE sales may be slowing, with sales in the first four months down by 23.1 percent, although April showed a decline of just 2.1 percent.

Truck replacement tyres showed a similar tendency. European truck tyre markets were level in the first four months, and up by 9.5 percent in April. North America fell by 1.2 percent in the year to April, reflecting a ecline of 1.5 percent in the year-on-year figure.

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Press release from Michelin