Continental Tyres say that the replacement tyre market in Ireland decreased by just 1.5 percent during 2012 to 1,212,291 units*.  The figures for 2011 vs 2010 showed a larger decrease of 5 percent.

Speaking at the media briefing today, Tom Dennigan of Continental Tyres Ireland said: "This is a small decrease in comparison with previous years but by our reckoning, the replacement tyre market can normally be estimated by assuming one tyre purchase per year per car in a particular market.  At that rate, we should be seeing significantly more new tyres being bought and we do have to wonder if some people are choosing to run on tyres that in other, perhaps, better circumstances, they would have changed by now.  There are important safety implications as a result of that choice".

In terms of tyre size, the 205/55 R16 remains the most popular tyre size in the Irish market with a 25 percent share. Example fitments for this size are the Audi A3, Ford Focus, VW Golf and Toyota Auris - all popular vehicles in Ireland.  In relation to rim size, 14 and 15" continue to decline in the face of continued growth in popularity of 16 and 17" rims.