Keys of the market of replacement of tyres in Spain

The market of the tyre depends directly of the evolution that follows the car park of any country, that in the case of Spain characterises by a fall continued of the registrations (the wall of 700.000 registrations of the 2012 carry us to levels of the year 1986) and by a progressive aging of these vehicles.

This situation is comporting that while in the years 2007 and 2008 the sales of tyres in Spain were of 16,94 million units and of 16,08 million units respectively, in 2012 this figure decreció until the 13,28 million tyres in all the year. That is to say, in hardly five years the market of tyre has lost more than 20% of his volume, and for this 2013 the forecasts aim to that will follow falling around a 5-6%.

In this negative tendency, as it aimed Alberto Rodríguez, influences logically the economic context that suffers the country, marked by some severe limitations to the credit, by the will of the agents to reduce his stocks, by a deterioration of the available income in the homes (because of the growth of the unemployment and to the rise of taxles) and by the fear to tackle new investments in front of a panorama in which it does not discern the recovery in the short term.

By all this, will be difficult to see again in the next years level available of similar tyres to the registered before crisis, having estimated for 2018 a figure of 13,81 million pneumatics/year.

If the study centres in the majority segment of tyres for tourism, and always according to the data of Europool, the evolution of his sales also is very significant of what is happening in the market. Of the 14,59 million tyres of this type sold in 2007 happened in 2012 to hardly 11,41 millions and the forecasts for the 2018 are of 11,92 annual millions. By the contrary, the tyre for vehicles 4x4 remains stable, with some levels that go from the 1,04 annual millions of the 2007, to the 1,03 current millions and until the 1,05 planned millions for 2018.

The crisis is directing the demand of tyres to the versions ‘budget' (more economic) and even to the pujante market of the tyre used. According to the figures contributed by Alberto Rodríguez, the segment ‘budget' has happened to represent 13,7% of the total of the market in 2007 to 18,1% with which goes to finish the 2013. This piece of the cake has snatched it to him mainly to the tyres of range ‘medium' (average) that have seen to descend his participation of 26,3% to 21,7% in these same six years. The segment that keeps more stable is the one of the tyre ‘premium' (high range) that hardly has suffered changes in his quota of market (59,9% in 2007 and 60,3% in 2013).

The forecasts for the next five years is that it keep this tendency, with a distribution for 2018 of: 61,9% premium, 19,3% medium and 18,9% budget. This will mark clearly the commercial strategy of the manufacturers, that will dump in promoting his versions premium and that will work also the channel budget like an important support to complete his portfolio and boost the fidelity of his customers.

Alberto Rodríguez concluded his report analysing the evolution and tendencies that appreciate in the marketing venues of tyres, that defined like “a mature market with light changes”. These changes appreciate fundamentally in an increasing tendency to familiar channels (reinforcement of networks or programs), in a concentration of independent agents in programs of manufacturers/distributors and in a growth of the channel dealers, that already see in the tyre an opportunity of business. By his part the channel of big agents and distributors will follow showing a quite stable behaviour.

In summary and in front of a general stage in which the manufacturers will have fewer customers (by disappearance or by concentration), Alberto Rodríguez concluded that “it is necessary to evolve anticipating us in our strategies and ways of performance, in front of some complex surroundings, cambiante and very volatile”.