Despite surging raw material costs, manufacturers remain positive, Ludwig says

March 6, 2008

In February, all the manufacturers released their results for 2007 and their outlook for 2008, analyst Saul Ludwig reported in the latest installment of the Ludwig Report in Modern Tire Dealer magazine.

He expected their view of 2008 would be quite positive, although all would cite surging raw material costs.

He had also predicted that there would be another round of price hikes, and, indeed, increases of 5% to 7% have been announced.

"Your tire sales may be slow early in 2008, but for the full year I’ll stick with the projections made in the MTD interview with me in January.

(See Ludwig's comments in the article "Thorough. Reflective. Forthcoming." on the www.moderntiredealer.com Web site in the magazine archives.)

Ludwig is a managing director with KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. based in Cleveland, Ohio. Look for the full "Ludwig Report" in the next issue of Modern Tire Dealer magazine.