Michelin has released its February and year-to-date figures for the tire market, revealing continued steep declines in the tire markets of North America, Europe, Brazil, and Japan. One relative bright spot in the data is China, which showed substantial growth in some key segments.
In original equipment passenger car and light truck tires, European sales were down 44.7% in February (relative to February 2008), while North American sales were down 53.6%, and Chinese sales were down 1.3%. In replacement PC/LT tires, European sales were down 8.1% in February, North American sales were down 15.1%, and Chinese sales were up 17.6%.
In original equipment radial truck tires, sharp declines were registered in February in Europe (-64.2%), North America (-45.9%), Brazil (-57.3%), and Japan (-60.8%), while China saw growth of 2.8%. Replacement radial truck tire sales for February were also down sharply nearly across the board, including Europe (-33.1%), North America (-25.8%), Brazil (-25.0%), and Japan (-54.9%), while China saw growth of 0.3%.
Year-to-date figures were equally grim. Details are here.