Tire sales in Russia went up by 5% in the first half of the year

Tire sales in Russia went up by 5% in the first half of the year due to a good result in the second quarter, which was the season for changing tires. Car tires continue to occupy the main market share, but the demand for them in the premium segment remains unsatisfied, manufacturers state. The situation is caused by the departure of foreign players from the Russian Federation – the new owners of these plants are just starting to bring their tire lines to the market. In the meantime, the top sales are occupied by the remains of Western brands and imports from China.

The market for tires of all categories in the first half of the year grew by 5%, to almost 24.1 million tires, follows from the review of the CRPT (operator of the Chestny Znak labeling system), created jointly with the National Scientific Competence Center in the field of combating illegal circulation of industrial products (NSCC ). In the first quarter, sales decreased by 8.5% (see Kommersant of June 1). And in April-June, the tire market increased by 16.4%, to 13.1 million units.

Passenger tires traditionally make up the bulk of the market. In the second quarter, 9.1 million of these tires were withdrawn from circulation, or almost 70%. Retail car tire sales in the second quarter grew by 64.4% to 5.8 million units. Of these, the main share fell on summer tires (4.9 million units) – these months are the season for changing tires. The average price for summer tires, however, showed an increase of only 1% compared to the first quarter, according to the CRPT. And compared to last year, when against the backdrop of the outbreak of hostilities, supplies of foreign brands were massively suspended, tires fell in price by 22% at once. Based on TyresAddict data, the prices of popular tire sizes are relatively stable, with prices rising in April and early July, but then stabilizing.

The output of all tires in the first half of the year fell by 27.5%, to 14.2 million units, in the second quarter – by 13.2%, to 7.7 million tires. At the same time, production remained the main source of supply: 10.4 million units against 6.4 million units of imports. Before the crisis, the share of imports was smaller, but most of the local production was accounted for by foreign companies that sold their assets during 2022–2023. For example, the C8 Industrial Assets group received the rights to the Gislaved brand from Continental, and also acquired the assets of the Russian manufacturer Cordiant. Due to these transactions, the group entered the top 3 tire manufacturers in Russia in terms of capacity.

The passenger car tire market remained stable in the first half of 2023, according to C8 Industrial Assets, while the truck tire market grew by 25%. The season for summer tires in retail has just ended, and data on its results have not yet been summed up, but C8 Industrial Assets does not expect a drop in demand. In the premium segment, demand still remains unsatisfied, the company believes, linking this to the departure of most foreign brands: “Consumers are forced to look for an alternative.” “Under the terms of the deal with Continental, until the end of the transition period, our plant in Kaluga continues to produce tires under the Continental brand, in parallel we are developing the name of the successor brand and are starting to expand the product portfolio,” the company continues.

The market leader in terms of production was Tatneft, which this year acquired the largest plant from Nokian. Now the plant operates under the Ikon Tires brand. Ikon Tires noted that in the summer season of 2023 they sold products under the Nokian Tires brand. “The volume of tires put on the market by our company this summer season was lower compared to previous years,” they continue. “This was due to the limitation of production during localization and transition to a new owner.” The demand for tires in the premium segment in the secondary market (replacing summer tires with new ones) was quite high, according to the company. “Already at the end of May, there was a shortage of supply in the premium segment in large sizes,” Ikon Tires adds. In addition to the new Ikon brand, the company continues to produce tires under the Nordman brand, which was taken over by the company after the deal with Nokian.

According to Avito, the top 5 sales in July were occupied by foreign brands, the production of which was traditionally carried out in the Russian Federation. Among them, including Nokian Tires and Continental – the average price per set was 17.6 thousand and 22.6 thousand rubles. respectively. But the Chinese brand Triangle also entered the top 5 (the average price of a set is 22.7 thousand rubles), the demand for which grew by 26% compared to last year. Sergey Udalov from Avtostat says that the situation with the offer on the tire market is relatively normal – since the beginning of the crisis, only its structure has been gradually changing towards brands from China. The shortage is present only in rare sizes, but this, he notes, is a fairly common situation.

Olga Nikitina