More gloom in the global tyre markets

ERJ staff report (DS)

Paris - Michelin has updated its website with tyre market data for the month of April. The April figures show further universal declines in demand, with the sole exception of China where replacement car tyre and truck tyre sales were up slightly.

In radial truck OE sales, every market in the world fell in the month of April and for the first four months, except China, which grew slightly last month. Europe's sharp decline has continued, and got worse. The year so far saw a dramatic 65.6 percent decrease in European sales with no sign of short term recovery. April's sales fell by an unprecedented 74.3 percent year on year, even worse than the disastrous 62.4 percent seen in March. The appalling decline in North American truck OE sales has continued, with sales in the first four months down by 47.9 percent, not helped by a fall in April of 56.3 percent.

The Brazilian market's sharp slowdown continued in April. The year to date showed a fall of 31.9 percent, with the April figures down by 34.7 percent. Japan's situation seems to be easing slightly, with sales in the year to date running 56.7 percent below the same period in 2008. April's decline was lower, at 35.6 percent on the same month a year ago Only China showed any hint of recovery, with up by just 0.4 percent in the year to date, helped by a 3.2 percent increase in the month of April.

Truck replacement tyres in April showed a similar picture, though marginally less bad. European truck tyre markets fell by 37.3 percent in the first four months, not helped by a 44.3 percent decline in April. North America fell by 23.5 percent in the year to April, and 18.2 percent in the year-on-year figure. In Brazil, a year-on-year fall of 23.2 percent slowed the four-month figure fractionally, to a decline of 'just' 25.0 percent. The sharp decline in Japanese truck tyre sales eased somewhat in April, down by 40.0 percent in the year to date and by 22.9 percent in the month of April. China showed only a modest fall, with a decline of just 2.0 percent in the year to April, helped by a 0.8 percent increase in the most recent month.

As has been recorded elsewhere, the OE car business continues to struggle, though the figures in April are not as bad as the March numbers. Michelin said the total European OE market for car tyres in the four months to April 2008 was down by38.3 percent, while the year-on-year figure for April dropped by 37.6 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 49.9 percent for the four-month period and a year-on-year decrease in April of 44.1 percent.

Even China fell. OE demand in China was up by 0.1 percent in the year to date although down by 8.0 percent in April

In the replacement business, the decline in Europe continued unabated. In April the four-month figures showed a fall of 11.9 percent while the one-month figure fell by 15.4 percent. In North America, the replacement market fell by 12.3 percent in the first four months, not helped by a decline in April of 14.0 percent.

Chinese replacement sales were a rare bright spot, with the increase in the year to date running at 13.6 percent and the April figures starting to boom, at 31.2 percent growth.