WASHINGTON-Shipments of passenger car tires to the U.S. aftermarket plunged 14.4 percent in March, compared with the 1994 month, dragging the total for the first quarter 5 percent below that for the first three months of last year. Shipments of replacement medium and wide-base truck tires also fell from the year-earlier month-down 10 percent-but remained 2.4 percent ahead of last year for the quarter.
Aftermarket shipments of light truck tires grew 1.2 percent over March 1994 and were 6.2 percent ahead of 1994 for the three months.
Shipments of replacement tires for heavy and large off-the-road trucks dived 26.9 percent from March 1994, pushing the quarterly total down 17.2 percent.
The strongest growth occurred in the industrial and utility tire segment, where replacement shipments jumped 30.9 percent over the year-earlier month and 47.8 percent above the 1994 quarter.
Data on farm tire shipments remained unavailable.
In the Canadian aftermarket, March shipments of passenger and truck/bus tires climbed 8.2 and 13.5 percent, respectively, and, for the quarter, 9.6 and 23.4 percent. Farm tire shipments fell 12 percent for the month and 20.3 percent for the quarter.