In the latest forecast from the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, total tire shipments are still expected to be down compared to 2022, but there's been some notable improvement in the replacement passenger tire category since the last projections were published in August.
In all, the USTMA projects total tire shipments of 327.7 million units, down from 332 million units in 2022.
Figures in the chart below are rounded, and in millions of units.
Since the August totals were released, the passenger tire OE shipments have increased. (Passenger OE was 43.9 million units, compared to 44.9 million now.) Both the light truck and truck tire OE numbers have fallen since the summer numbers were released. They were 6.2 million and 6.5 million respectively.
The biggest movement came in the largest category — passenger tire replacement shipments. The latest forecast calls for 214.2 million units, up from 210.5 million in August.
Both the light truck and truck tire categories have slipped since the previous estimate, when replacement light truck tires were expected to total 35.9 million units, and replacement truck tire units were to reach 22.4 million.
The USTMA notes that 2022's total shipments of 332 million units were close to those recorded in 2019, before the pandemic. (332.7 million).
When comparing the 2023 estimates to the pre-pandemic totals of 2019, it's noteworthy that light truck tire shipments in both OE and replacement are on track to beat 2019. In the replacement market, light truck tire shipments are on pace to be 8.1% higher than they were in 2019.
2023 replacement truck tire shipments will also outnumber the 18.9 million units shipped — by 10.7% — in 2019.
