Stocking Tires for Crossover SUVs

The Crossover SUV market has exploded over the last 10 years. As more and more people have come to the CUV market with more diverse needs and wants, a number of important sub-segments have formed including: sub-compact, luxury and performance CUV’s, to name a few. Making matters more complicated are the wide range of tire types used for Original Equipment. It’s not uncommon to find standard passenger tires, touring tires, performance tires, highway terrain tires, CUV tires or in some cases all-terrain tires on these vehicles. On top of that, the size range for CUV fitments has grown wide in that same time. Consider where we are in 2020. A mainstream brand like Hyundai has a tire as small as 185/65R15 88H on the new Venue, a 245/45R19 98W option on the Hyundai Tucson and up to a 245/50R20 102V on the new Palisade. This wide range of tires combined with how a consumer uses their vehicle can affect a consumer’s opinion of: the OE tire or brand, the vehicle itself or the expectations for a replacement tire. What is a dealer to do? Below we will go through some important market considerations, plus vehicle and size specific examples to help you start a successful strategy for stocking Crossover SUV tires.

The Toyota RAV4 is the original modern CUV. It was launched in 1996 in USA and has been at or near the top of the compact CUV market ever since. The tires that were OE on those early RAV4’s closely resembled what we consider a modern “CUV” tire - as they featured a modified highway terrain all-season design in narrower, smaller diameter sizes that were not traditionally associated with the highway terrain segment.

From a size standpoint the RAV4 has been remarkably stable in a tire market plagued with size proliferation. The core sizes 225/65R17 and 235/55R18 have been OE options for the last 15 and 13 years respectively. But in 2019, two new sizes were introduced: 225/60R18 and 235/55R19. The RAV4 features Hybrid models, Luxury models and TRD Off-Road models, which means you will need to stock tires that feature good fuel-efficiency and ride quality as well as more aggressive tires to cover the 4X4 and Off-Road oriented consumers. Since 2010, there have been about 2.9 million RAV4’s sold in the USA (through 2019) with approximately 44% of that total sold 2017-2019. You also need to consider the mix of sizes and how that has shifted. In 2017-2018 you had a mix of 80% 225/65R17 to 20% 235/55R18. With the new sizes in 2019, the mix shifted to 48% 17”, 24% 18” and 28% to the new 235/55R19.

With that many vehicles with varied packages on the road, you need to be prepared for a range of consumers that a simple good, better, best strategy might not cover. Consider including: a touring type tire, crossover/highway type tire, and even an all-terrain type. The good news is that optimally preparing for RAV4 also prepares you for many other compact CUV’s from Audi, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Jeep, Mazda, Subaru, Volvo and more.

The Ford Explorer launched in late 1990 as a 1991 model and reached its peak popularity in the late 1990’s to early 2000’s, but wasn’t technically a CUV until the 5th generation started in model year 2011. There have been approximately 1.9 million Explorers sold since then, which is very strong in the midsize CUV segment. The OE tires from 2011-2019 come in three core sizes 245/65R17, 245/60R18 and 255/50R20. The 2020 model year introduces replacements to the previous options with three new sizes: 255/65R18, 255/55R20 and 275/45R21. What’s interesting here is that from 2011-2019 the 17” and 18” tires were CUV/Highway type, but the 20” tires were touring or performance type. Now all sizes are touring or performance types for model year 2020. Touring tires can signal cost savings when used on CUV’s, but since the OE Touring tires were only on the top trim packages until 2019 and the new sizes use Touring for 18” and 20” options, it’s a safer bet Ford was going for refinement and or fuel efficiency. The 20” performance tire option signals an on-road handling priority. While some sport packages on CUV’s mean off-road, the Explorer’s 20” OE performance tires suggest on-road priority. With regard to the mix of sizes, you see another significant shift to the higher diameters. In 2017-2018 you had a mix of 68% 18” to 32% 20”. With the new sizes in 2019, the mix shifted to about 51% 18”, 41% 20” and 8% to the 275/45R21.

So planning for the Explorer should mean tires focused on refinement and performance. You’ll need CUV all-season tires that offer outstanding road manners and you’ll need to stock up on the 20’s as they account for over 1/3 of the vehicle volume from 2017-2019. You also should seriously consider a performance type tire for the 20” and 21” options as well to be better prepared for drivers with the Explorer’s Sport, ST and Platinum trims.

The Jeep Compass has been very popular of late. Since the launch of the second generation at the end of 2016 the Compass sales total almost 400,000 units, but 315,000 of those vehicles sold in 2018-2019. With the second generation came a new batch of five core sizes ranging from 215/65R16 to 235/45R19 with 215/65R17, 225/60R17 and 225/55R18 filling in the lineup. All of the OE’s are CUV or highway terrain types except for the 19” touring tires. The mix by size is in step with the other two examples with highest rim diameter growing significantly. In 2017 the Compass mix was 9% 16”, 72% 17”, 1% 18” and 8% 235/45R19. The 2019 mix finished with 8% 16”, 64% 17”, 4% 18” and 24% 235/45R19.

Stocking tires for this vehicle is interesting in a couple ways. First, most all of these sizes have been relatively common fitments since the late 2000’s fitting: larger passenger cars like the Chrysler 300, minivans like the Toyota Sienna or compact CUV’s like Nissan Rogue or Mitsubishi Outlander which specified OE performance tires. So multiple options of touring or performance type tires should already be part of a stocking plan. Next, the Jeep brand is born of the off-road and all of the Compass models have a 4WD option, despite the exclusive use of OE tires optimized for highway driving. So it would make sense to plan for Jeep drivers that want a tire that gives them more off-road capability. And always consider more options where the volume is already high or growing.

When considering an overall stocking plan, you want maximize the current opportunity while being prepared for the trends as they grow to keep your stock continually effective. The growth of rim diameters has had a huge impact on tire demand in the last few years. The vehicle examples above have certainly shown that trend. According to the USTMA 18” tires made up almost 15% of highway terrain and CUV tires in 2014 but grew to 24% in 2019. Nineteen inch tires grew from 5.5% to 8.6% in that same time. Twenty inch tires grew from 11.9% to 20.8%. Lastly, tires 21” and above more than doubled from 1.9% to 3.9%.

If you want to look at the market from a vehicle perspective, IHS Markit shows CUV’s with rim diameters of 18” and above have all grown over the last three years.

As shown with the vehicle examples and market trends above, stocking tires for Crossover SUV’s is complicated. The Yokohama Tire Corporation recognizes the importance of the diverse CUV market, through OE collaboration with: Toyota on the RAV4 from the 1990’s to the 2020’s, the Jeep Compass, the incredible Porsche Cayenne, Subaru Forester and more. To maximize the opportunities in this rapidly growing CUV market, Yokohama knows that multiple tire segments are required, which is they offer three treads focused on the needs of CUV owners. The brand new for 2020 GEOLANDAR CV G058, the sporty GEOLANDAR X-CV and the rugged GEOLANDAR A/T G015.

The GEOLANDAR A/T G015 all-terrain tire supports the CUV market with 22 sizes of OE replacement coverage, 60,000 mile tread life warranty, 3PMSF for severe winter service and an ideal balance of off-road traction and on road ride quality. The GEOLANDAR X-CV is an all-season tire designed for luxury and performance CUV’s and features a 50,000 mile tread life warranty, superior handling in dry, wet and snow and impressive coverage for CUV’s 20”, 21” and 22” OE tires.

The new GEOLANDAR CV G058 focuses on the majority of CUV owners by offering an optimal balance of mileage, traction and efficiency. It features 33 sizes from 215/65R16 to 265/50R20 for tremendous coverage, a 65,000 mile tread life warranty, confidence inspiring traction in wet and wintry weather, competitive fuel efficiency and superior ride quality.