“While we hope that the pandemic situation will improve, we also underline the urgent need to find the most suitable measures to support the tyre industry in order to preserve jobs in the sector” said Mrs Fazilet Cinaralp, Secretary General of ETRMA.
The European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) published its members’ European tyre sales for the third quarter of 2020. The figures confirm the strong impact of the Covid-19 pandemic delivering worrying sales results for the industry.
The second quarter of 2020 had already shown an evident slowdown of sales brought by Covid, but the full effect has become even more evident in this third quarter where all the product lines remain affected by the current crisis, specially affected in consumer and two wheels segments.
The data signals that European tyre sales in truck and agricultural segments have experienced a slightly less pronounced drop in sales compared to passenger vehicles and two-wheel segments. Comparing figures from January-September 2019 to January-September 2020, truck tyre sales have declined by 8%, while the agriculture vehicle segment has fallen by 3%.
Starting in January of this year, both the truck and agricultural segments maintained a steady drop one month after the next. After the lowest point was touched in May, ETRMA is keeping a close eye on a timid positive sign, with a Q3 better than last year in truck and agriculture vehicle segments. As of September 2020, truck tyre sales have recovered by 8% and agricultural tyre sales by 9% since May.
While consumer and two-wheel segments are facing greater challenges than truck and agriculture vehicle segments, the tyre industry as whole is urgently looking to establish the most effective measures to support the sector as the year nears its end, amidst an ongoing pandemic.
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