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Major wins for major brands

Consumer tire market share shows increases

When is a bad year a good year? When your name is Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Th at question was moot in 2010, as Goodyear gained market share for its fl agship brand (see Chart 6). A marketing success story in the Assurance Fuel Max tire, introduced in 2009, didn’t hurt.

Demand for replacement consumer tires was high and supply low in 2010. So if you had tires, you probably sold them. Th at also meant a brand could increase its unit sales and retain the same market share.

Goodyear lost associate brand market share last year, as Republic was dropped and Kelly production couldn’t keep up with the nearly 8% increase in replacement shipments (see page 30). But it sold more tires in 2010 than it did in 2009.

Other brand share winners on the replacement passenger tire side were Cooper, Hankook, Yokohama, Falken, Nexen and Pirelli. Gaining market share on the replacement

Chart 7 2010 U.S. CONSUMER TIRE MARKET SHARE (by company, three top brands; based on 226.3 million units)

Michelin 16.8% Bridgestone 17.3% Goodyear 17.6% Others 48.3%

Chart 8 DOMESTIC CONSUMER TIRE BRAND SHARE (by type; based on 226.3 million units)

Associate brands 9.9% Private brands 11.9% Major brands 78.2% Chart 6 2010 U.S. REPLACEMENT CONSUMER TIRE BRAND SHARES

PASSENGER TIRES LIGHT TRUCK TIRES (based on 1 98.7 million units) (based on 27.6 million units)

Brand % of total Brand % of total

Goodyear 15.0% Goodyear 12.5% Michelin 8.5% BFGoodrich 9.0% Bridgestone 7.5% Bridgestone 8.0% Firestone 7.5% Michelin 7.0% BFGoodrich 5.0% Firestone 6.5% Cooper 5.0% Cooper 6.0% Hankook 4.5% Multi-Mile 4.5% General 3.5% General 4.0% Falken 3.0% Toyo 4.0% Kumho 3.0% Yokohama 4.0% Uniroyal 3.0% Hankook 3.5% Yokohama 3.0% Kumho 3.0% Nexen 2.5% Uniroyal 2.5% Toyo 2.5% Cordovan 2.0% Continental 2.0% Falken 2.0% Dayton 2.0% Mastercraft 2.0% Dunlop 2.0% Nexen 2.0% Hercules 2.0% Pirelli 2.0% Multi-Mile 2.0% Continental 1.5% Pirelli 2.0% Dayton 1.5% Cordovan 1.5% Hercules 1.5% Mastercraft 1.5% Kelly 1.5% Sigma 1.5% Maxxis 1.5% Big O 1.0% Big O 1.0% Delta 1.0% Delta 1.0% Fuzion 1.0% Dunlop 1.0% Kelly 1.0% Laramie 1.0% Nitto 1.0% Sigma 1.0% Sears 1.0% Others 5.5% Sumitomo 1.0% Others 6.0%

Because numbers are rounded to the nearest one-half percent, the total may not equal 100%.

light truck tire side in addition to Goodyear were Firestone, General, Yokohama, Hankook, Kumho, Falken, Pirelli, Continental and Maxxis.

Goodyear, Bridgestone Americas Inc. and Michelin North America Inc. account for more than 50% of the replacement consumer market in the U.S. with nine brands (see Chart 7). Goodyear has 17.6% with Goodyear, Dunlop and Kelly; Bridgestone 17.3% with Bridgestone, Firestone and Dayton; and Michelin 16.8% with Michelin, BFGoodrich and Uniroyal.

Major brands increased their consumer tire market share year over year from 73.8% to 78.2% (see Chart 8).

Th e 27.6% drop in Chinese imports hurt the private brand and associate brand segments a lot more than major brand manufacturers. Compared to 2009, private brand share was down almost two percentage points, from 13.8% to 11.9%. Associate brand share decreased even further, from 12.4% to 9.9%.

Putt ing the shipments in some context, there were more than 217 million registered cars and light trucks in the U.S. in 2010.

OE market share

Just to keep up with market share at

Chart 9 U.S./CANADIAN OE CONSUMER TIRE BRAND SHARE (excluding imported vehicles; based on 46 million units)

Brand 2010 2009

Goodyear 28.8% 28.0%

Michelin 22.2% 22.6%

Bridgestone 14.3% 14.2% Continental 9.8% 10.2%

BFGoodrich 5.8% 6.0%

Firestone 4.9% 5.2%

Hankook 3.9% 3.6%

Pirelli 3.4% 3.5%

General 3.0% 3.1%

Kumho 1.5% 1.0%

Dunlop 1.2% 1.2% Others* 1.2% 1.4%

* “Others” includes Yokohama (Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz), Uniroyal (General Motors) and Toyo (Toyota). the original equipment level, an OE supplier had to increase its shipments by 37% in 2010 (see Chart 9). OE tires that were shipped downstream through the replacement channel are not included.

Not surprisingly, light vehicle production in the U.S. and Canada was up by about the same percentage. Close to 9.8 million vehicles were produced last year.

Out of bankruptcy, General Motors Corp. regained the market share lead it lost to Ford Motor Co. in 2009 (that’s production market share, not sales). ■