Brand vs. price, which tires are more profitable for stores to sell
During offline store visits in 2024, we found that in more profitable truck tire stores, the store owners still like to sell big brand tires the most. Our inherent perception of tire sales, "big tires look at price, small tires look at brand", is slowly changing.
Big tire sales are not only about price, performance is more important
When asked if the longer the mileage of the tire, the harder it is to sell, most tire store owners gave a negative answer.
"If the tire can run more than 500,000 kilometers, then my store's business will be particularly good. So drivers have to rush to my store to buy tires." In his opinion, such tires will actually promote business transactions. "It depends on the price. But if you can guarantee that he doesn't need to change the tire for a year and a half, he (the driver) will be willing to spend more than 1,000 to replace the front wheel with a more expensive brand tire. After all, you don't have to spend money for more than a year."
Admittedly, some 22.5-inch tires can be sold at a low price of more than 500, but they can't be used in three months, and they cost more than buying branded goods throughout the year. "Drivers want tires that are wear-resistant and durable. They love tires that can run on any road. Especially after the strict inspection of the 100-ton king, medium and long-distance tires are selling very well. And many of my trucks are transporting coal and stones. For transportation across several provinces, the most feared thing is tire failure. Cheap and unbranded tires are definitely not acceptable."
In many truck tire stores, we can even see fleets with tires of the same brand for all vehicles. Safety performance, wear resistance, and long life are the primary requirements of most medium and long-distance transport drivers when choosing tires, even exceeding the demand for low prices. In the passenger car tire replacement market, the saying "big tires look at price, small tires look at brand" is no longer effective.
The influence of passenger car tire brands is being downgraded
Since 2023, there will be more and more stores in auto parts cities with foreign brand signs and more than 70% of the stores are Chinese brand tires. With the change in consumer concepts, the continuous upgrading of the quality and performance of Chinese tires, and the gradual reliance on new energy vehicle matching to achieve a leap in brand awareness, the sales of Chinese tire brands have gradually improved.
In addition, the current market demand for sizes is still dominated by 15-inch and 16-inch tires, so the pursuit of brands in the domestic passenger car tire market is cooling down.
Although many passenger car tire stores have foreign brands on their doors, they will represent at least 4 Chinese brands according to the changes in car owners' needs. The store display is also mostly a situation where domestic and overseas brands each account for half, and some tire stores even have a domestic brand share of 70%. Chaoyang, Triangle, Senqilin, Yuanlu, and Haibei are more common brands in the auto parts city.
"Owners of operating vehicles are the main consumers in the store. Their consumption is more rational. As long as it is wear-resistant and safe enough, they will pay more attention to the price. There are at least more than 100 brands in this market. It is hard to say which brand the driver likes the most, but the brands with higher quality-price ratio are still the ones with high sales."
However, the high-quality-price-ratio tires in the auto parts city are still expensive for many drivers. A taxi driver told us that they prefer to go to familiar personal stores where the prices are cheaper. "We all run on the road, as long as it is wear-resistant and safe, it's fine. My current tires are very good, especially wear-resistant and very cheap. Although the noise is a bit loud, I can still tolerate it for the price."
Brand is still a "necessity" for store sales
Although the price influence in the passenger car tire market is constantly increasing, we still cannot deny, at least not now, the impact of brand value on market sales. And the influence of brand is also increasing in the large tire market.
Whether it was three years ago or three years later, the door of the auto parts city is still occupied by foreign brands. Similarly, those truck shops with queues waiting to change tires at the door, or transport fleets, are still willing to cooperate with tire shops with well-known brand doorheads.
This also means that we cannot deny the influence of brand on sales at all. Therefore, if we only revolve in the replacement market and compete for lower prices, the future market influence of Chinese tire brands is still worrying. Fortunately, China's leading tire companies have gradually jumped out of the "low-price circle" and penetrated into the high-end market to cultivate brands in a healthier way.
