2014 - the year of growth for the tire industry - a summary of tire sales in Europe.

Forecasts of experts, who spoke with optimism of 2014 - are confirmed.

Fortunate start but unlucky ending

The fact is, that the sale of tires for all the most popular types of vehicles in the European market is higher than in 2013. There has been a 2% increase in sales of tires for passenger cars, 4% for trucks and 6% for motorcycles. Without dividing into categories, the total tire sales in 2014 amounted to 2% more than in the previous year. It confirmed the assumptions and forecasts formulated by, for example, General Secretary of the European Association of Manufacturers of Tire and Rubber Products (ERTMA) Fazilet Cinaralp. According to the report of the association, first half of the year  was by far the best. During this period, growth in sales of passenger tires amounted to 8%, trucks  to 10% and motorcycles up to 9%. Notable was the first quarter, as growth in sales of all types of tires exceeded 10% (for trucks amounted even up to 16%!) Unfortunately, in the second half of the year there was a significant drop in sales. The total drop in sales compared to the previous year reached the level of 3%. The worst appeared to be the fourth quarter, when sales of tires for passenger cars
fell by up to 9%. Without dividing into vehicle types, tire sales fell by 8 %. Most likely this was due to the mild winter, which resulted in lack of need for tires change. Potential buyers decided not to buy any winter tires. In fact the sales of motorcycle tires, as the only ones, was higher in all quarters of 2014 compared to 2013. An interesting tendency can also be observed when it comes to selling tires from different quality classes. There was no significant increase in the share of any class. In any case, the increase was similar. However, the largest increase was recorded among the middle class tires - 55%, and the smallest  in premium tires - 45%. In terms of tires sold, economy class is still the most popular in Europe.

Made in China vs. the tires of the highest class

What do they both have in common? The increase in sale in 2014. Tire services have observed, that the owners of small and medium-sized companies in the past year searched for the cheapest tires, despite the unfavorable results of TCO- total cost of ownership. In large companies, with better financial liquidity,  the share of premium tires increased. Despite the high purchase prices, the tires from the highest quality shelves allow you to achieve significant fuel savings - says Sylwia Widacka network services Euromaster. In total, polish market recorded the increase in sales of Chinese tires and Premium tires, on the other hand the segment of tires economy tires lost 17.6% -summarizes.
In class division,

Internet stores grow in power

Sale through the online channel is systematically increasing, hence significant growth can be seen in tire sales on the internet. The OPONEO.PL S.A. Group sold 22% more tires on all of its markets, than in 2013. Despite unfavourable weather conditions company recorded 15% growth in tire sales on Polish market. Economy tires are still the most popular in Poland, and their sale increased  by 16%.

However, this ranking also shows that behind the tires of economy class with a difference of only 8% were tires of the highest performance class. Last year, their sale increased by 11%  compared to 2013. The sale of middle-class tires increased by 19%, which may be surprising, because in 2014 these tires were the least frequently chosen by customers of OPONEO.PL S.A.  Apart from the Polish market, OPONEO.PL S.A. Group sold the most tires in the UK and Italy, where the number of sold tires increased by 55% and 72%. However, the largest increase in 2014 of over 200%, was recorded in Ireland and the Netherlands. On all foreign markets increased the number of sales of tires for passenger cars, a total of 78%. The biggest increase in tire sales was recorded in the middle class – up to 81%. However, as in Poland, this class has the smallest share in the total tire sales. On the foreign markets, we sold the most High Performance tires, their sale increased by 58%. They were sold mostly to customers from UK and Ireland, and least likely bought by Italian or German customers - said Ernest Pujszo Coordinator of foreign e-commerce from Oponeo.pl. To sum up, the last year showed us that drivers are spending on tires more and more money and choose better quality tires, like the ones from the middle or premium class. We should also positively assess the impact of online sales of tires in the total tire sales. Even the last quarter, although the weakest, saw an increase. According to the forecasts for the development of e-commerce, it is expected that the value of tire sales over the Internet will grow from year to year.