Bob Ulrich

Editor

Bob Ulrich was named Modern Tire Dealer editor in August 2000. He joined the magazine in 1985 as assistant editor, and has been responsible for gathering statistical information for MTD's "Facts Issue" since 1993. He has won numerous awards for editorial and feature writing, including five gold medals from the International Automotive Media Association. Bob earned a B.A. in English literature from Ohio Northern University and has a law degree from the University of Akron.

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Learning about tires in L.A. L.A. land

By: Bob Ulrich

Auto shows are not tire shows, or even tire industry shows. Yes, some of the largest auto shows around have strong ties with certain tire brands. For example:

Los Angeles Auto Show and Yokohama.

Detroit Auto Show and Michelin.

Chicago Auto Show and Bridgestone.

They cater to car dealerships -- your competitors most of the time -- and car enthusiasts. However, that does not mean you can't learn anything about tires by attending.

At last year's L.A. Auto Show, a representative of Kumho Tire U.S.A. Inc. researched what tires came on the more than 1,000 2010 makes and models of import and domestic cars on display. The results proved somewhat surprising to the company.

According to Rick Brennan, Kumho's vice president of marketing, 17-, 18- and 19-inch sizes "are growing much faster at OE than we anticipated.” As you might expect, their growth is at the expense of 13-, 14- and 15-inch P-metric sizes.

"You’re going to see a lot more rim diameter changes," predicted Brennan, who adds that the auto show results mirror Rubber Manufacturers Association trend data.

Because auto shows tend to display more ultra-high performance vehicles than you would normally see in showrooms, the survey's speed rating percentages are skewed versus reality (at least I think they are skewed...).

There were more V-rated tires (29%) than H-rated (24%); Y-rated tires were a close third at 22%, followed by W-rated (16%). Combined, T- and S-rated tires only accounted for 9% of the OE tires.

Even if those numbers are truly indicative of original equipment trends, keep in mind that tire trends in the replacement market are different. They certainly do not match OE trends tire for tire.

So, if you want to make plans for this year's L.A. Auto Show, it will be held November 19–28 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

But if you really want to know what is going on in our industry, make plans for the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show November 2-5 at the Las Vegas (Nev.) Convention Center.

Related Topics: L.A. Auto Show, Rick Brennan, SEMA Show, UHP Tires