Michelin Group posted sales of $7.39 billion during the first quarter of 2025, down 1.9% from the same period last year.
According to Michelin officials, sales were down “due to lower OE sales in all segments, prolonging the trend observed during in second-half 2024.”
However, Michelin achieved a 2.5% “positive mix effect” during 1Q 2025, “reflecting the favorable OE/replacement mix” and the company’s performance "in targeted markets.”
Michelin-brand sales climb
Revenue for Michelin’s Automotive and Two-Wheeled Tires division increased by 1.2% during the first three months of 2025 versus 1Q 2024 and totaled around $3.9 billion.
However, unit volume declined by 3.3% on a year-over-year basis.
In Automotive, OE sales were down “in a persistently depressed market, particularly in Europe and North America, where the trend observed in late-2024 continued into the new year,” according to Michelin officials.
“Group sales were also eroded by an unfavorable customer mix in the new vehicle market.”
On the upside, Michelin reports that replacement sales of Michelin brand tires increased in all regions except China, where domestic demand remained sluggish. And Michelin “held onto its market share in the fast-growing 18-inch and larger segment.”
Eighteen-inch-and-above tires represented 67% of the Michelin-brand tires sold during the first quarter of 2025, 4% more than during the first quarter of 2024.
The company also called out the new BFGoodrich All-Terrain KO3 as a product that “enjoyed rapid growth” in both North America and Europe.
Michelin’s mix in the Automotive division was “favorable.”
TBR tires
Sales in Michelin’s Road Transportation division, which includes commercial truck tires, dropped 3.5% year-over-year, while volumes contracted by 8.9%, reflecting a “very steep fall” in the OE markets both in North America and Europe.
But “new tire sales in the replacement market increased over the period, especially in the strategic and most profitable markets” in North America, South America and Europe.
Revenue for Michelin’s Connected Solutions business continued to grow during 1Q 2025, “helped by the high level of synergy between tire offerings and connected services for fleet operators,” say Michelin officials.
Specialty tires
Revenue generated by Michelin’s Specialty businesses, which include ag and OTR tires, decline by 7.3% year-over-year, with an overall volume drop of 9.6%, driven by “the steep fall” in OE channel ag and OTR tire sales.
Michelin’s mining tire volumes were “on par” with the first quarter of 2024 “despite the high basis of comparison,” but experienced a rebound in March.
Michelin officials say the company grew its market share in strategic segments, especially in the South America region.
Overall industry
Michelin says OE and replacement passenger and light truck tire sell-in increased by 2% during the first three months of 2025 versus the same period in 2024.
In the OE channel, PLT tire global demand dipped during 1Q 2025. This included an 8% decline in North America and a 13% drop in Europe. China, however, experienced a 10% demand increase.
In North America, “the uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic environment eroded consumer confidence and was not conducive to a structural recovery in demand,” according to Michelin officials.
“What’s more, with household purchasing power under pressure, the executive segments of the North American automotive market were the hardest hit.”
In the replacement channel, PLT tire demand in North America was “stable,” showing an increase of 1%, but was impacted “by the automotive aftermarket’s shift to lower trim models with fewer features and less equipment and by an influx of low-cost tire imports ahead of a potential rise in customs tariffs.”
In Europe, replacement tire demand rose by 6% during 1Q 2025, underpinned by strong winter and all-season tire sell-in and sustained sales of 18-inch and larger tires.
Replacement tire demand in China declined by 1% year-over-year due to a gradual decline in miles driven and other factors.
OE commercial truck tire sales contracted by 6% overall during the first quarter of 2025, with demand in North America declining by 14% due to “numerous political uncertainties” and economic uncertainties, which “made fleet managers reluctant to invest in new vehicles for the time being.”
In the replacement channel, commercial truck tire demand was flat versus 1Q 2024, according to Michelin officials. However, demand in North and Central America was down 3% year-over-year, which Michelin “expected due to the high basis of comparison in the first quarter of 2024, when imports from Thailand grew rapidly. The return to a more normal level of demand had a negative impact on demand for retreads, which faced competition from low-cost tires.”
Replacement truck tire demand in South America was flat on a year-over-year basis, while demand in Europe increased slightly, with markets in western Europe growing during the quarter.
In the specialty tire business, growth was “mixed... with OE demand remaining depressed across the board and replacement demand demonstrating greater resilience.
“In agricultural tires, the more cyclical OE markets contracted significantly in both the Americas and Europe. Sources of downward pressure included the uncertain political and economic environment, which weighed on investment decision and inventory drawdowns by agricultural vehicle manufacturers,” according to Michelin officials.
In the construction tire segment, OE demand was “down sharply” versus the first three months of 2024.
