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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Our industry is worth -- drum roll, please -- more than $38 billion!

By: Bob Ulrich

Wow. We all knew that tire pricing rose significantly in 2011. Not all of it stuck at the passenger tire level, but prices rose well into the double digits for all segments.

Still, replacement passenger tires, which make up the vast majority of replacement tire shipments, were down slightly year to year (click here for more details). That didn't matter.

In 2010, the domestic replacement passenger, light truck and truck tire market totaled $31.2 billion. This year, they totaled $37.3 billion! That's a 19.5% increase!

Yes, a 2.1% increase in light truck tire shipments and a 13% increase in truck tire shipments helped. But skyrocketing prices were the key. This may even be the largest percentage increase ever. And it certainly is a market record.

When you add in replacement farm and OTR tire sales, the final total is $38.4 billion! And that doesn't include retreading -- truck tire retreading alone accounted for $3.8 billion in 2011, according to preliminary data from the 2012 Modern Tire Dealer Facts Issue.

The United States Department of Commerce defines real gross domestic purchases as "purchases by U.S. residents of goods and services wherever produced" (as opposed to Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, which does not include goods and services produced outside our country's geographic boundaries).

For the first three quarters of 2011, gross domestic purchases increased 1.7%, 1.3% and 1.8%, respectively. Our industry grew nearly 20%.

Sure, the GDP is more than $15 trillion, but  very few industries look big compared to that.

Think our industry isn't significant? Or large enough to make a statement in Congress if we need to?

I hope the Tire Industry Association and Rubber Manufacturers Association are armed with these numbers when they lobby Congress on issues important to our industry in general and you in particular.

Related Topics: Facts Issue, Farm tires, Light truck tires, OTR tires, Passenger tires, Retreading, RMA, Tire Industry Association, Truck tires