Page 10 - CTB n5 - 2014/1

COMPANY NEWS
CV Tyre Market Positive Says Continental
During 2014 forecasts of how the market for new commercial vehicles will end present a mainly positive if mixed picture, according to Tracey Hyem, UK commercial marketing manager
overall market with an 18 per cent rise in registrations, partly because of a rush to register Euro 5 models ahead of the legislative cut-off date, while registrations of rigid trucks below 16 tonne
gross weight are forecast to decline by five per cent. Bus and coach registrations are similarly mixed with a year to date decline in bus registrations of 12 per cent while the coach market has responded well with an upturn of 15.7 per cent. The Republic of Ireland presents
a broadly similar picture.
Hyem went on to
say that the replacement market for new tyres increased in 2013. “In the UK we are forecasting a market increase of about 14 per cent on 2012 with a five per cent increase in Ireland,” she said. “Across Europe as a whole the overall market sales of new
Tracey Hyem
in demand? By far the largest segment is for regional tyres, which account for 85 per cent of replacement new tyre sales in the UK market and 82 per cent in Ireland. Long distance tyres represent about eight per cent of the market in the UK and seven per cent in the ROI but there is
per cent of the total. According to Hyem this is due to the extensive use of retreads on drive axles and trailers, where the figures are 16 per cent and 28 per cent respectively. Ireland presents a more balanced picture at 45 per cent for steer axles, 26 per cent for drive and 28 per
Continental.
Speaking at a pre-Christmas media briefing, Hyem said that figures from the SMMT show that commercial vehicle registrations in 2013 are expected to be up by over 10 per cent. “But within that overall number the picture is
some growth starting in this area. And the balance is mopped up by construction at five per cent in the UK and four per cent in
cent for trailer.
“Our analysis shows no significant changes in the top five most popular sizes of tyre sold
a little mixed,” she added.
The over 16 tonne truck segment is likely to do better than the
replacement tyres up by about eight per cent.
So which types of tyre are most
10 Commercial Tyre Business
Ireland; urban at four and a half per cent and two per cent; and winter tyres, which make up just half a per cent of the UK market but two per cent in Ireland. Where they get used on trucks and trailers is interesting too. Sales of replacement new tyres in the UK are predominantly for use on steer axles, which make up 56
here and in Ireland,” says Hyem. “In the UK these top five made up 71 per cent of all sales in 2013 and 87 per cent in Ireland, with the 295/80 size remaining the dominant size in the UK and the 315/80 in Ireland, being more reflective of mainland European practice.”