A series of mild winters and relatively late snow has restricted the winter tyre market to around half a million units a year, according to Guy Frobisher, marketing director for Continental.
“There is a winter tyre market out there but the difficulty is getting the customers converted,” he said. “The snow typically doesn’t stay around for long in this country but, as soon as they (customers) drive on winter tyres, they understand.”
Mr Frobisher said the cold winter of 2009 was the catalyst for the market but product was in short supply because continental European markets had absorbed all the stock. Sales jumped significantly in 2010/11 because the tyres were available in the retail market and car manufacturers launched winter tyre promotions.
But the market has plateaued since then with two relatively mild winters in a row.
“We were ready in 2010 and the retailers took the message on board, especially in the van market where Ocado took the lead,” said Mr Frobisher. “But it is a hard message to get across and there are complications of storage, with or without rims. Take-up in fleets, for instance, has not been great.”
He admitted that one of the unintended consequences of the winter tyres promotions was that they had actually taken sales out of the market because wear rates on summer tyres were reduced and winter tyres have very limited wear.
The market opportunity will only open up if large numbers of UK customers regularly switch to winter tyres.
Source: Auto Retail Network
Published: 17 Feb 2014