The European and American tire industries are declining, while the Asian tire industry is rising strongly.

The global tire industry is mainly divided into two poles. Tire manufacturing originated in Europe and America, with the Englishman John Dunlop known as the “Father of the Tire.” In 1888, he improved tire inflation technology, enhancing tire shock absorption and greatly promoting the development of the tire manufacturing industry. Later technologies such as radial tires and tubeless tires also originated in Europe and America. Of the top 10 global tire brands in 2025 published by *Brand Finance*, five originated in Europe and America, including Michelin, Continental, Dunlop, Goodyear, and Pirelli. Asia is the other pole of the global tire manufacturing industry. Although it started later overall, it has developed rapidly and has a huge industry scale. Bridgestone, Hankook, Yokohama, Giti, and Sailun, all originating from Asia, are among the top 10 global tire brand values. However, while European and American tire manufacturers remain leaders in the global tire industry and dominate the high-end tire market, their growth is significantly slower than that of their Asian counterparts. First, Michelin leads the decline in Europe. Michelin, a French company, is the world’s largest tire group. According to Tire Business data, its tire sales revenue reached $25.647 billion in 2024, ranking first globally. However, in terms of growth rate, Michelin’s tire sales declined by 5.95% year-on-year, the largest decline among the three major European tire manufacturers. Germany’s Continental AG saw a 0.27% decline in the same period, with sales revenue of $12.466 billion (4th globally); Italy’s Pirelli experienced a negative growth of 0.96% year-on-year in 2024, with sales of $7.329 billion (5th globally). Second, Goodyear experienced an even greater decline. According to Tire Business’s 2025 ranking, Goodyear, an American tire company, is the third largest globally, but it also experienced the largest decline in annual sales revenue among the world’s top 10 tire manufacturers. In 2024, Goodyear’s tire sales reached $17.447 billion, a significant decrease of 6.7% year-on-year, exceeding the decline of its three European counterparts. The collective downturn in the European and American tire manufacturing giants is mainly due to two factors. Firstly, the European automotive market is sluggish. The tire manufacturing industry is a supporting industry to the automotive industry and is closely related to the prosperity of the automotive market. Europe has a highly developed economy, slow population growth, an aging population, high car market saturation, and weak sales growth. Data from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (CATARC) shows that from January to September 2025, Germany’s cumulative car sales were 2.11 million units, a decrease of 0.3%; France (1.187 million units) saw a decrease of 6.2%, Italy (1.167 million units) a decrease of 2.9%, and Russia (896,000 units from January to September) saw an even steeper decline of 22.4%. The sluggishness of major European car markets directly impacted tire companies’ sales growth, and since the European market is a traditional stronghold for European and American tire manufacturers, the impact was very direct. On the other hand, Asian tires have risen strongly. The tire manufacturing industry is highly competitive, with a clear pattern of rise and fall. Besides Japanese tires, tire giants from China, India, and South Korea have performed exceptionally well. China’s Zhongce Rubber (ranked 9th globally) achieved tire sales of US$5.204 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 9.05%; Qingdao’s Sailun Group (ranked 10th globally) saw its sales increase by 21.06% to US$4.333 billion during the same period. India’s MRF Tires (ranked 13th globally) achieved sales of US$3.278 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 9.45%. Hankook Tire (7th globally, with a growth rate of 3.05%) and Kumho Tire (12th globally, with a growth rate of 7.24%) of South Korea had sales of $6.845 billion and $3.32 billion respectively during the same period. Overall, the tire industry in Europe and America is experiencing a decline, and this is not an industry-wide problem, as most Asian counterparts, except for Japanese tire companies like Bridgestone, are growing. With rising income levels in emerging Asian markets such as China, India, and Southeast Asia, their automotive consumer markets are unmatched by Europe, and Asian tire companies deeply rooted in their local markets will inevitably benefit the most. Furthermore, with the popularization of new energy vehicles, Chinese domestic car companies are rapidly rising, and domestically produced cars + domestically produced tires have become a common combination, with domestic tires offering comparable quality and better value. Currently, the decline of European and American tires in the global market may only be the beginning.