Michelin says OE truck tire market improving in Europe, “extremely weak” in N. America

Clermont-Ferrand, France – The European truck and bus tire market has showed signs of improvement in the third quarter, while demand in North America remained “extremely weak,” according to a Michelin pre-close call 8 Oct.

According to the group, the OE truck tire market outside China was still negative, though Europe had improved “as expected, albeit on a very low comparison base.”

In North America, however, OEM demand was “more depressed than originally anticipated,” particularly for Class-8 trucks, amid elevated inventories and “in the absence of visibility on tariffs and EPA 2027 [new regulations]”.

Replacement truck tire sales grew slightly, Michelin said, largely due to continued import flows from Asia to Europe and North America — a trend that has inflated inventories.

Fleet demand, by contrast, remained “flattish” as freight activity showed no clear recovery.

In the passenger car and light truck tires (SR1), global OE demand was broadly stable to slightly positive in the quarter.

China led the growth despite a slowdown compared to earlier in the year, while North America improved from the first half, amid continued a downward trend in Europe.

Replacement tire sell-in for cars and light trucks was “less dynamic” than in the first half, Michelin said.

This, it said, was partly due to softer import momentum into Europe and North America ahead of potential tariffs or duties.

The group added that the EU’s antidumping investigation into Chinese passenger car tire imports could see an initial decision by end-2025, possibly applied retroactively from October.

In its speciality tire and polymer composite segment (SR3), Michelin said mining and aircraft tire sales remained strong, offsetting continued weakness in agriculture and construction.

Overall, Michelin expects third-quarter tire volumes to remain down year-on-year, though improving sequentially from the second quarter.

Michelin said the trend was “positive within the quarter” but softer than it had anticipated, pointing to a mid-single-digit decline in total tire volumes compared with the prior year.

OE car tire sales were roughly stable, supported by China, while replacement car tire sales fell due to soft demand in North America and the impact of a new wholesale distribution model in the US.

Price-mix contribution remained positive but weaker than in the first half, as the effect of raw material indexation fell sharply and market competition intensified.

The non-tire business, including sealing products, grew modestly.

Michelin noted that, in the absence of September data, it could not provide an estimate for third-quarter revenue. Full results are due on 22 Oct.