Rubber Tire Sales in Taiwan on Sharp Decline

Taipei, May 4, 2006 (CENS)--Rubber tire sales in Taiwan dropped sharply in both original equipment (OE) market and aftermarket, especially in the performance-tuning sector.

To counter the declining sales, many tire brands have been trying to strengthen their deployments in traditional sales channels, I.e. distributors and tire repair shops. Michelin Taiwan plans to push some fuel-saving tire models in conjunction with the high oil prices.

Industry sources said that some traditional hypermarkets and auto-accessory retailers such as Costco, Yellow Hat etc. are the emerging sales channels for many big tire brands, but tire sales in such channels have suffered a sharp drop of 20% in recent months.

In order not to suffer from financial risks, Michelin Taiwan has adopted a series of stricter measures to monitor credit and financial conditions of smaller auto-accessory retailers, in response to tightening credit policy on credit-card holders.

A senior official of Bridgestone Taiwan pointed out that about 80% of his company's products are sold to automakers on an OE basis while the rest 20% to replacement aftermarket on the island. In the first three months this year, he said, sales volume to automakers dropped by 28% from the previous year due to the shrinking domestic new-car sales.

Taiwan's Top-5 Imported Tire Brands in 2005
Rank	Brand	Sales Revenue	Volume
1	Bridgestone	US$40.72 million	438,000
2	Michelin	US$31.25 million	422,000
3	Yokohama	US$17.49 million	498,000
4	Dunlop	US$12.91 million	382,000
5	Continental	US$8.18 million	132,000
Source: Taiwan Rubber Industry Research & Test Center.