Recently, in the complex and ever-changing international market environment, a number of internationally renowned tire companies released their performance results for the first three quarters and their expectations for the full year.
Bridgestone: PLT tire replacement market demand declines
In the first nine months of 2024, Bridgestone's sales increased by 7.4% year-on-year to 3,198 billion yen, slightly behind Michelin; adjusted operating profit increased by 5.9% to 375.8 billion yen.
Bridgestone's third-quarter adjusted operating profit fell 8.6% year-on-year to 124 billion yen, but sales rose 0.5% to 1,096 billion yen.
Bridgestone said that demand in the replacement PLT tire market declined in the third quarter, but demand for PLT tires in the OE market continued to recover.
In terms of profitability, Bridgestone's PLT tire division's earnings increased by 4%, but TBR tire earnings fell 11% year-on-year to 60 billion yen, and sales fell 2% to 766 billion yen. Overall, Bridgestone's profit margin fell 0.2 percentage points to 11.3% in the first three quarters.
Specialty tires, which include off-road tires, agricultural tires, aviation tires and motorcycle tires, saw revenue increase 21% to 103 billion yen, while revenue increased 12% to 463 billion yen.
Continental: Optimistic about the new energy tire market in the Asia-Pacific region
Thanks to the improvement in European business, especially the initial sales of winter tires, the tire sub-group of Continental AG performed well in the third quarter, with sales reaching 3.5 billion euros, an increase of 1.9% year-on-year; its adjusted EBIT margin was 14.5%, an increase from the previous year.
In view of its growth potential in the Asia-Pacific region, Continental plans to invest more than 300 million euros to increase the production capacity of its Rayong tire plant in Thailand to 3 million tires per year. In addition to conventional tires, the Rayong plant specializes in producing a range of Continental tires that meet the specific needs of electric vehicles.
In 2023, the tire sub-group supplied original equipment tires to the five largest electric vehicle manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, the Rayong plant is one of Continental's largest motorcycle tire production bases in the world.
Pirelli: Sales of high-value tires strengthened
Pirelli's overall sales in the first three quarters increased by 2.2%, and its operating income was 5.1845 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 0.5%. Adjusted EBIT was 815.9 million euros, a year-on-year increase of 4.3%, which Pirelli attributed to solid business performance and efficiency.
In the third quarter, Pirelli's sales increased by 0.8% year-on-year to 1.737 billion euros, with an organic growth rate of 5.5%; its adjusted EBITDA increased by 4.4% year-on-year to 276.8 million euros, which was related to the performance of sales volume, price/mix and efficiency.
Pirelli once again noted that sales of high-value tires had further strengthened, accounting for 76% of sales, two percentage points higher than the level in the first nine months of 2023.
Despite the difficult external environment, Pirelli has not changed its full-year performance forecast for 2024, encouraged by the solid operating performance.
Sumitomo Rubber: Both OE and replacement tire sales declined
Sumitomo Rubber's tire business saw improved revenue in the first nine months despite a decline in sales due to the depreciation of the yen. Sales increased 3.9% year-on-year to 748.7 billion yen, and operating profit increased 60.6% to 51.1 billion yen.
However, due to the closure of its tire plants in the United States, Sumitomo Rubber's operating profit in the third quarter fell 72% year-on-year to 11.5 billion yen, and full-year profit is expected to fall to 5 billion yen in 2024.
Looking ahead, Sumitomo Rubber expects the global economy to slow due to continued high interest rates in the United States and Europe and a weak real estate market in China.
In the Japanese OE market, sales were significantly lower than the 2023 level due to the typhoon at the end of August that affected automobile production; sales in the replacement tire market fell year-on-year, but its market share still increased. Overseas, sales of both OE and replacement tires declined, with OE tire sales mainly affected by reduced supply from Japanese automakers in Asia. The replacement tire market in China and Southeast Asia remained stable, while sales in Europe and the Americas declined.
Generally speaking, under different product combinations and strategies, as the market environment changes, the market of big-brand tires has different inclinations. Overall, the market challenges faced by Japanese tire companies are intensifying, while high-value-added tire brands from Europe and the United States still have a significant competitive advantage.
DLFTECH is a professional equipment marketing & service company built by a senior R&D and marketing team in the tire & conveyor belt equipment industry. Benefiting from the rapid follow up of the international rubber industry's process re-engineering and the demand for industrial intelligence, DLFTECH, the best of the best, has rapidly developed into a new star in the international rubber machinery industry.
If any tire or conveyor belt industry customers need such as OTR bead winding line, tire mold laser cleaning system, tire uniformity rectifier, etc., please feel free to contact info@delphygroup.com.
