Despite the tough economic conditions, the mainstream tyre market in Ireland showed significant growth in 2010, but there remain some major concerns over tyre safety issues. That was the message from General Manager of Semperit Ireland, Paddy Murphy at the recent launch of its Semperit Comfort Life 2 tyre.

In a market briefing, Paddy Murphy said “In 2010, the Irish tyre industry showed signs of the ‘green shoots’ of recovery, with sales up 12% versus 2009 for the mainstream brands.” He attributed this increase to a decline in sales for budget brands, but warned that the figures still indicate that many motorists are driving on unsafe tyres that need replacement.

The Semperit General Manager also issued words of warning on second hand tyres. He said, “We are seeing more and more shops offering second hand tyres and we would have to warn motorists to be very careful about fitting second hand tyres to their car. We know from our tyre dealer customers, that some of these second hand tyre shops are fitting tyres on cars that are not roadworthy.” He went on to call for this sector of the market to be better regulated.