Tires entered economy mode – Newspaper Kommersant No. 61 (7506) dated 04/10/2023

Tire sales in the first quarter of 2023 fell by 16% in quantitative terms, but immediately by 42% in monetary terms, follows from data from manufacturers and marketplaces. Russian car owners have become more likely to choose more budget offers. In addition, the market was buzzing in March 2022 due to fears of a tire shortage amid a massive suspension of shipments of foreign brands, which created a high base for comparison. However, they emphasize in the profile association, it is still too early to speak unambiguously about a drop in demand and it will be possible to fairly assess it only in the summer.

In January-March, tire sales in Russian retail decreased by 16%, to 3.2 million units, according to the data of the Chestny Znak labeling system. The most popular tires were 16-inch (25% of purchases), R15 (21.1% of purchases) and R14 (13.4% of purchases). In total, in the Russian Federation, by the beginning of the tire change season, warehouses and stores had 34.8 million summer and all-weather tires, according to the CRPT (Chestny Sign operator): almost 25.7 million of them are summer, about 8.8 million are all-weather tires. The warehouse stocks of summer automobile tires, specified in the Central Regional Development Center, at the current level of consumption are enough for 22 months, all-season – for 15 months.

In money terms for January-March, according to CRPT, the market declined even more significantly than in units: by 42%, to 14 billion rubles. In addition to prices, changes in consumer demands also affected. Thus, Nokian Tires (the company has now sold Russian assets to Tatneft) pointed to a reduction in the premium segment of tires due to a drop in demand for them.

“Russian car owners, instead of the usual brands, have discovered new tire brands that are ready to offer budget, but high-quality options,” says Alexander Kuroptev, head of the Spare Parts category at Avito. He cites the example of the Chinese brand Triangle, which for the first time at Avito was among the leaders in sales of new summer tires – its sales increased by 2.6 times over the year.

Marketplaces still record a seasonal surge in demand for tires: for example, in March, tire sales, including used ones, at Avito grew 3.5 times compared to the previous month. The company recorded an increase in demand separately for new tires compared to last year – by 23%. At the same time, the dynamics is partly associated with an increase in supply – by 2.2 times. Most often, among the new products at Avito, tires of the Pirelli, Triangle and Yokohama brands were bought, and in the used segment – Pirelli, Michelin and Bridgestone.

New tires account for almost half (46%) of the total volume of summer tires sold by the service, says Alexander Kuroptev. “Contrary to last year’s pessimistic forecasts, we are not seeing a decrease in the supply or stagnation of the new tire market: distributors have reconfigured sales channels, including through parallel imports, and a number of the largest production facilities located in the Russian Federation have restarted and continued to work,” he says. The average price of a new set of summer tires on the platform in March amounted to 35.3 thousand rubles. A used kit can be purchased for an average of 11.6 thousand rubles.

The Association of Tire Manufacturers notes that the results of the first quarter do not fully reflect the level of demand, including in terms of segment differentiation. “The most representative data is the results of sales of the first half of the year, where sales of summer tires will be the key indicators. Now it is premature to assess the level of demand for the summer season due to the specifics of the tire business, sales of summer tires started at the end of March, ”they explain. In addition, the association points to the high base of last year: “In the first quarter of 2022, there was a rush demand in the market due to the events of last year.”

In March 2022, against the backdrop of the onset of the crisis and the suspension of the work of foreign suppliers, including their Russian factories, the component market saw price increases and rush demand due to fears of a shortage. According to TyresAddict, prices for the most popular tire sizes peaked in April 2022, and now the average price for them is still several thousand rubles lower than a year ago.

Olga Nikitina