U.S. consumer demand for tires grew in 2024

AKRON — Aftermarket demand for tires in the U.S. grew across each category during 2024, after hitting a plateau the year before.

Demand for medium truck/bus replacement tires led the way, increasing 12.5% to 23.4 million units, according to data from the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA).

Shipments of light truck tires followed with 7% growth to 36.7 million units, while passenger tire shipments went up 1.3% to 222 million units.

That's just one of the insights from data compiled by Tire Business for this year's Market Data Book. Other highlights include:

• Tire imports are up; domestic production is down.
• Cambodia continues to grow as a powerhouse source of imports.
• New vehicle sales were up in the U.S. and Canada.

While replacement tire shipments increased in 2024, OE shipments were a mixed bag, led by the light-truck tire category, where shipments grew 13.6% to 6.7 million units.

Shipments of passenger and medium truck/bus tires, on the other hand, experienced declines of 5.7% and 8%, respectively, to 43.1 million and 5.7 million units.

Tire production by USTMA-affiliated manufacturers also fell in each tire category last year — for the third straight year — while imports increased.

Passenger tire production fell 4.1% to 91.7 million units; light truck tire output dropped 0.9% to 23.2 million units; and truck/bus tire production fell 4% to 11.9 million units, according to the USTMA data.

Truck tire production most likely will fall again in 2025, based on plant closures by Bridgestone Americas Inc. (LaVergne, Tenn.) and Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (Tonawanda, N.Y.) and the phase-out of truck tire capacity by Goodyear at its Danville, Va., plant.

Those three factories represent as much as 15,000 units of daily truck/bus tire capacity, or between 4 million and 5 million units a year. Bridgestone has indicated it will incorporate the capacity at its LaVergne plant at other factories in the Americas but hasn't disclosed where or how quickly.

At the same time, imports were up in each category, according to data from the U.S. Commerce Department.

Light truck tire imports jumped 26.1% to 39.6 million units during the year, followed by medium/truck bus imports, which were up almost 8% to 19 million units. Replacement passenger imports grew 2.2% to 168.9 million units.

Comparing the USTMA and import data reveals that imports represent up to 75% of the U.S. replacement passenger tire market and more than 80% of the truck/bus tire aftermarket.

If "captive imports" — those tires brought in by USTMA member companies from non-U.S. factories — are factored out, then the "true" import share of the passenger tire sector stands at roughly 40%.

In the truck/bus tire category, Tire Business calculates the true import share at roughly 55%.

In 2024, the average declared customs values for passenger, light truck and medium truck/bus tires all shrunk:

• Average passenger tire customs values dropped 3.2% to $57.78; values in the category ranged from $33.86 (Vietnam) to $83.83 (Mexico).
• Average light truck tire customs values dropped almost 2% to $98.54; values in the category ranged from $48.92 (Vietnam) to $116.94 (Japan).
• Average medium truck/bus tires values were $174.89, down 7.3% from $188.72; tire values in the category ranged from $119.59 (Vietnam) to $405.72 (Canada).

Several countries saw growth in the number of tires they exported to the U.S. in 2024, particularly Cambodia, which now ranks in the top 10 of all three tire segments.

Passenger tire imports from Cambodia — which had essentially no manufacturing presence as recently as three years ago —jumped 67% to 8.9 million, while light truck tires more than doubled to almost 3.8 million. But medium truck/bus tires were the biggest gainer, skyrocketing 16-fold to almost 1.2 million imports, putting Cambodia at No. 5 behind Canada.

Growth in Cambodian imports wasn't a surprise given recent investments by Chinese tire manufacturers in the country, spurred by established U.S. tariffs.

Cart Tire Co. Ltd. (Sailun Tire Group) opened its Svay Rieng plant in 2022, with the capacity to make 9 million units per year. General Rubber (Cambodia) Co. Ltd. (Jiangsu General Science Technology Co. Ltd.) followed with its Sihanouk factory in 2023, with a capacity of 3.5 million units per year.

Last year, Doublestar (Cambodia) Tire Co. Ltd. (Qingdao Doublestar Group), opened a facility in Snoul District, Kratie Province, that can produce 7.5 million units per year.

All three plants make passenger, light truck and medium truck/bus tires.

Serbia is another country that saw a significant jump in shipments to the U.S. Light truck imports from the Balkan country more than doubled to nearly 1.5 million tires.

Serbia has five tire plants, including two that have opened since 2022. The Toyo Tire Serbia d.o.o. (Toyo Tire Corp.) factory in Indija can make up to 5 million passenger and light truck tires a year, while the Linglong International Europe d.o.o. plant in Zrenjanin is rated at 6 million car and light truck tires a year.

Goodyear (Cooper Tire) and Michelin Group (Tigar Tyres) also have plants there.

Imports from Vietnam also increased across all three categories, 13.7%, 36.9% and 36% for passenger, LT and MTB respectively. Fourteen different companies make tires at 19 plants in Vietnam, which became an attractive manufacturing location due to U.S. tariff increases on China.

On the negative side, both Japan and South Korea saw their exports to the U.S. drop. Japan's light truck and medium truck/bus exports were each down 19%, and its passenger tires decreased 4.7%. South Korea's exports to the U.S. dropped 25% for passenger tires, 14.5% for light truck and 15.1% for medium truck/bus.

South Korea and Japan remained among the Top 10 sources for each tire category, while China remains only in the top 10 (No. 6) of medium truck/bus tires, dropping 8.2% to nearly 937,000 tires last year.

Consumers in the U.S. and Canada bought more new vehicles last year versus 2023.

U.S. new vehicle sales increased 2.5% to 16 million units, while those in Canada grew 8.7% to 1.86 million.

Sales of new vehicles made in the U.S., Canada or Mexico grew 2.5% in the U.S. to 12.4 million, while in Canada that category rose 5.7% to nearly 1.3 million

Vehicles imported from outside North America accounted for 22.4% of U.S. and 31.4% of Canadian new vehicle sales.

Sales of imported new vehicles increased by 2.5% to 3.59 million units in the U.S., representing more than 14.4 million tires. South Korea and Japan accounted for 70% of those imports.

Toyota was the No. 1 brand in the U.S., while Ford was the top brand in Canada. The Tesla Model Y emerged as the most popular model in the continuously shrinking U.S. passenger car segment, but Ford's F-series held its spot as the most popular vehicle of any kind in both countries.

That's in line with the ongoing U.S. trend with light trucks and SUVs, the number of which continues to grow, while demand for traditional passenger cars continues to decline.

Light trucks in operation increased 2.8% to 183.6 million, of which 60% of were domestic. The number of cars in operation declined 2.9% to 102.2 million, according to data from S&P Global Mobility and the Auto Care Association.

Eight of the top 10 OE passenger tire sizes in 2024 were 18-inch rim diameter or larger, including a 22-inch and a couple of 20-inch sizes, according to USTMA data. The top 10 sizes accounted for 35.4% of OE passenger tires. The top size was the 275/60R20 for the third year in a row.

In the passenger aftermarket, two 20-inch and three 18-inch rim diameter sizes were in the top 10, as well as one 15-inch size, according to USTMA data. The top 10 sizes account for 28.5% of replacement passenger tires. The 225/65R17 was once again the top size.

In the light truck category, the top OE and replacement size was the LT275/70R18. It was one of three tires with an 18-inch or larger rim diameter found in the top 10 OE and replacement sizes. The top 10 light truck tire sizes accounted for 79.2% of the OE category and 57.6% of the replacements.

National dealerships — those with more 40 or more outlets competing in three or more geographic regions — account for the largest share of business in the U.S. aftermarket tire sector, according to USTMA data: 44% of replacement passenger tire shipments and 47% of light truck tire shipments.

Local dealerships, those with no more than nine outlets in a single region, were second with 17% of passenger and 25% of light truck shipments, while regional dealerships were third with 16% of passenger and 20% of light truck.

Geographically speaking, southern parts of the U.S. account for the bulk of passenger and light truck tires sold throughout the nation.

The West South Central region comprising Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas accounted for 19% of light truck shipments, while the South Atlantic states of West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Washington, D.C., got 20% of passenger tire shipments, according to USTMA data.

Other interesting insights in this year's Market Data Book:

• South Carolina leads North American states and provinces in tire production with 123,225 units per day and 9,948 employees. Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC, Continental Tire the Americas Inc., Michelin North America Inc., Yokohama-TWS and Giti Tire (USA) Ltd. have factories in the state.
• New York dropped off the list of tire-making states with Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd.'s decision to close its century-old Tonawanda plant.
• North American tire sales were worth an estimated $59.7 billion in 2024, down 3.4% from the year before. The 10 largest tire makers collectively accounted for approximately 78.4% of those sales.
• Michelin North America Inc. continues to be No. 1 in North America in terms of sales revenue generated by tire production and distribution. Michelin's tire-related revenue of $11.05 billion edged out No. 2 Bridgestone Americas' $10.9 billion and Goodyear's $9.6 billion.
• Discount Tire/America's Tire had sales of $9.65 billion, making it the top North American tire retailer by sales; Bridgestone Americas was second with sales of $4.5 billion.
• Revenue generated by the nation's tire dealers is expected to grow 5.6% annually through 2027 to reach $42.5 billion, according to the Auto Care Association Factbook.
• Revenue generated per store by general repair garages rose 13.4% to nearly $682,000, according to data from the ACA and U.S, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Per store data wasn't available for tire dealers
• Automotive technicians' wages rose 4.5% in 2023 to $24.97 an hour from the year before, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• The U.S. Department of Transportation issued 23 new plant identification codes in 2024 for tire factories in 10 countries, including to Sailun Group Co. Ltd., Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. Ltd. and Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd.
• On the performance side, OE and replacement shipments of H-, V- and Z-rated tires in 2024 dropped from the year before, the first such drop in the past couple of decades. OE high performance fitments dropped 1.1 percentage points to 65% of OE total, while replacement fitments dropped 2 percentage points to 57.3%, according to USTMA data.