Tire installation has become more expensive
After a warm September in central Russia, the temperature dropped sharply; According to Evgeniy Tishkovets, leading expert of the Phobos weather center, on the last night of October 11, the air temperature in the capital fell below normal for the first time in the autumn months. Negative zone. In this context, drivers began to massively replace summer tires with winter tires and faced queues and rising prices at car service stations.
Seasonal “re-shoeing” of a car has become more expensive due to inflation and labor shortages, interviewed market participants told socialbites.ca; tire fitters are forced to increase prices for their services. Thus, the Fit Service car service network is talking about increasing the cost of services by the general inflation rate in the country. Since the beginning of this year, inflation has reached 4.54%, according to Rosstat, and almost 6%, according to the Ministry of Economic Development. The Russian Association of Vehicle Services speaks of a more significant increase in prices. According to Ilya Plisov, a board member of the trade union organization, the price of tire fitting has increased by up to 15% over the past year.
This dynamic is explained by the shortage of personnel in this sector and the need to increase wages to attract workers.
explains Plisov.
“The prices of car repair services are increasing and the number of people who can work there is decreasing. The profession of a car mechanic, including a tire repairman, is still uninteresting: young people do not come there, and old people do not stay,” the interlocutor noted.
The market has changed
Last year, Continental, Nokian, Michelin and Bridgestone withdrew from the Russian market and their factories were transferred to domestic owners. Of the European products, only Italian Pirelli remained in retail. They told socialbites.ca that they have a wide range of products on the Russian market.
“Pirelli company has two factories in Russia, in Kirov and Voronezh. A wide range of sizes is available, including tires with runflat technology (with reinforced sidewall – socialbites.ca), which the company produces locally, the press service of Pirelli’s Russian office told socialbites.ca.
The company Ikon Tires (formerly Nokian Tires, known for the Hakkapeliitta, Hakka and Nordman tire brands) reported that its tire factory in Vsevolozhsk is in non-stop operation.
“In the fall of 2023, our products will be offered for sale with old brands and brands produced after the process is completed. These are Nordman tires without the main brand on the sidewall.
The product range is wide. In a statement to socialbites.ca, the company’s press service stated that there are five models of studded tires and three models of studless tires.
Ikon Tires claims to produce tires with the same technologies and rubber compounds, using the same equipment of the former Finnish owner. The company added that the consumer properties of the tires have not changed. True, the company has already had to change the design of the spike, the authorship of which is protected by the Nokian patent.
Vadim Volodin, general director of JSC Cordiant, told socialbites.ca that production of the usual varieties of the Continental plant in Kaluga continues throughout 2023, the accumulated reserves will be sold in one or two seasons. Kaluga factory Continental was transferred to the Cordiant structure after its sale to Armen Sargsyan’s S8 Capital holding.
“According to the terms, only the Gislaved brand will be transferred to the diversified holding company S8 Capital as part of the transaction. The facility will also produce tires under the Continental brand until the end of 2023. “The plant will continue to use existing know-how and technologies in production, and R&D in the field of key components and products will be continued under the terms of the agreement,” Volodin said.
Chinese people stood up
Auto3N marketer Marina Beloglyadova notes that from the point of view of product diversity, the Russian tire market is undergoing transformation due to the replacement of products of well-known world brands that have left the Russian market with Chinese brands.
“Compared with 2022, sales of Chinese tires increased by approximately 15%, while their costs increased by 19%. A clear trend that is noticeable among our customers is that they have begun to purchase predominantly Chinese tires at retail, especially in the regions,” Beloglyadova told socialbites.ca.
According to him, the redirection of demand is primarily due to the fact that products of Chinese brands are in stock.
“Taking our company as an example, I can say that there is high demand for Triangle, Saigun and Tracmax products.
The situation is that around 50% of buyers are now switching to Chinese tires, and the other half are sticking to their usual models; still available in stock.
“They especially buy Pirelli Ice Zero,” Beloglyadova gave an example.
Ikon Tires insists that tire costs began to decline after active growth in the spring of 2022.
“If we compare prices on the tire market in the current 2023, according to our rough estimates, these prices are 15-20% lower than last year,” Ikon Tires told socialbites.ca.
According to Ilya Plisov from the Automotive Services Association, the price of large-diameter tires and runflat tires has increased in particular. There are also problems with the availability of tires for certain models of Chinese cars due to rare sizes. This is especially true for Omoda crossings.
“The price of tires such as Michelin and Continental has increased significantly by about 20-25%. This is especially true for wheels of powerful cars with a landing diameter of 20 inches and above. In principle, you can find an alternative among Chinese tire brands, but even powerful cars produced in China are equipped with tires of the world’s leading brands (the same Continental and Pirelli),” Plisov notes.
The cost of a 20-inch tire has now reached 40-60 thousand rubles, and there is a huge shortage in this segment on the market, says Sergei Mishin, tire tester of Za Rulem magazine.
“The shortage of 20 inch and above tires has become very clear. “Some vehicle owners are trying to switch from 20-inch wheels to 19-inch wheels, but this brings with it the additional costs of purchasing rims,” he points out.
Recipe changed
According to Za Rulem expert, with the change of owners of tire factories in Russia, the production technologies of tire compounds have also changed; Adjustments were made to the original composition of rubber compounds.
“As far as I know, the composition of the tires has changed slightly. For example, Nokian, renamed Ikon, slightly changed the shape of the studs to evade Nokian Tires’ patent restrictions. In addition, all Russian manufacturers have difficulties in purchasing some components for rubber compounds,” he said.
For this reason, the grip properties of winter tires have deteriorated by several percent, according to Mishin. The expert evaluates the performance characteristics of winter tires from China with skepticism.
“Buyers need to take into account that Chinese tires are very weak both in studded and in friction. In my opinion, they cannot even compete with our domestic developments,” Mishin concluded.