In the tire market, the heavy segment has the worst performance

By Redação AutoIndústria | 5/23/23 | Translated by Jorge Meditsch

The Brazilian tire industry isn’t living its best days – a reflex of a stalled light vehicle market and a heavy vehicle setback. Sales fell by 1.9% in the first four months of the year, from 18.8 million units in 2022 to 18.4 million.

In April, 4.4 million tires were sold, a 12.8% fall compared to March and 9.5% less than in the same month last year, according to data released this Tuesday, 5/23, by Anip, Associação Nacional de Pneumáticos.

Considering all segments, deliveries to manufacturers had a slight 2.4% high in the first quadrimester, from 4.4 million to 4.5 million units, while replacement market sales fell 3.2% from 14.4 million to 13.9 million.

Cargo tires were the lowest performance segment. 2.2 million units were sold from January through April, a 16.4% reduction from the same period last year when 2.6 million were sold.

Cargo tire sales for replacement fell 17.3% compared to 2022 (from 2 million to 1.7 million), while direct sales for manufacturers fell by 13.7% from 613 thousand to 529 thousand units.

“The tire segment looks with caution and concern this year’s scenario”, commented Klaus Curt Müller, Anip’s executive president. “The expectation is a gradual improvement over the next months. We hope the national industry will grow again and finish the year with more consistent results”.

According to the association, there was also a reduction in automobile tire sales. The segment went from 9.7 million units in 2022 to 9.6 million this year, a 1.6% decrease. Sales for manufacturers increased by 7.3% from 2.4 million to 2.6 million. In the light vehicle replacement market, there was a 4.4% fall, with 7 million sales this year.

Sales for light commercial vehicles showed a 2.7% setback from 2.9 million to 2.8 million tires in the quadrimester. Replacement sales were 5.6% lower, while deliveries for manufacturers increased by 2.1% from 1 million to 1.1 million units.

On the other hand, motorcycle tires grew by 12.9% from 2,9 million to 3.3 million from January through April this year compared to 2022.