The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) has boosted its 2024 tire shipments projections, and the group predicts this to be a strong year for all facets of the replacement tire market.
The August numbers show improvement in the replacement passenger, light truck and medium truck tire categories since the USTMA last published projections in March.
Overall, the USTMA predicts 2024 shipments will total 337.4 million units, up from the 331.9 million tires shipped in 2023. (In March, the group projected an overall market of 335.7 million tires — an uptick of 0.5%.)
The 337.4 million units would surpass the previous record of 335.2 million units in 2021.
In original equipment numbers, the passenger and truck unit forecasts have turned downward since March. As a result, any gains in shipments for passenger OE tires have been erased to mostly flat, while OE truck tire units are now expected to drop 5% compared to 2023.
In the replacement market, the passenger, light truck and medium truck categories all picked up steam since the USTMA’s March projections. And when compared to 2019 (pre-COVID-19 conditions), light truck replacement units are up 10.2%, while the truck replacement units are up a whopping 19.5%.
Note: Shipments are in millions and figures are rounded.
