USTMA expects tire shipments to exceed pre-Covid levels

Washington – The US Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) expects total US tire shipments to exceed pre-Covid levels of 2019, driven mainly by the light truck segment.

Total tire units are set to reach 334.2 million, up 0.7% compared to last year and 0.5% from the 332.7 million units registered in 2019, said a 28 Feb USTMA report.

However, while shipments of OE passenger car tires are set to grow by 2.3% year-on-year to 42.6 million units, the figure will still be considerably lower than the 46.3 million units recorded in 2019.

On the other hand, the light truck OE tire segment is expected continue solid growth, reaching 6.4 million, up 1.3% compared to last year and 8.2% compared to 2019.

OE truck tire shipments, continued USTMA, are anticipated to shrink slightly to 6.4 million units, down 0.6% compared to last year and 0.1% lower than in 2019.

Overall, OE volumes are set to increase by 1 million units, the report added.

In the replacement segment, passenger car and light truck tires are projected to register year-on-year growth of 1.0% and 1.6% respectively.

At 215.8 million units, the replacement passenger car tires see will see a drop of 3% compared to 2019, according to USTMA.

Replacement truck tire volumes, meanwhile, are set to increase to 37.9 million units, up 16.3% from pre-Covid levels.

USTMA expects the replacement truck tire market to shrink 5.5% year-on-year to 25.5 million units, but still up 33% compared 2019.

Overall, the replacement tire market is expected to increase by 1.2 million units, said USTMA.