The final 2016 forecast by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) of U.S. tire shipments shows a slight overall increase for the year. And the news is better for the replacement market than for original equipment tire orders.
| 2015 Final | 2016 Forecast | % Change | Unit Change | |
| OE Tires | 49.7 | 49.6 | (0.3) | (0.2) |
| Passenger | 4.4 | 4.8 | 9.5 | 0.4 |
| Light Truck | 6.2 | 5.1 | (17.6) | (1.1) |
| Truck | ||||
| Replacement Tires | ||||
| Passenger | 206.1 | 205.2 | (0.5) | (1.0) |
| Light Truck | 29.1 | 31.5 | 7.9 | 2.3 |
| Truck | 17.9 | 18.4 | 2.5 | 0.4 |
| Total Shipments | 313.5 | 314.4 | 0.3 | 0.9 |
All shipments are in millions, and figures are rounded by the RMA. Numbers in parenthesis are negative.
Five things to know:
- These estimates from the RMA cover all shipments, including RMA members as well as non-members.
- Only one segment of the market has shown improvement in both OE and replacement shipments — and that’s light truck tires. In OE LT tires are up 9.5%, and in replacement they’re up 7.9%.In both categories the figures are beating the RMA's projections for the year which were published in March.
- Passenger tire shipments are down slightly for both OE and replacement.
- OE truck tires took the biggest hit in 2016, with an estimated 1.1 million fewer tires shipped, down 17.6% compared to 2015. Replacement truck tires had a better year, with growth of about .4 million, or 2.5%.
- Overall, 2016 tire shipments are up less than 1 million tires, or .3%, to 314.4 million.
