Original Equipment On Mass Market Cars
While premium car manufacturers tend to stick to premium car tyres for the original equipment tyres they choose, there has begun to be a wider variety of OE tyres chosen in the mass market car sector. Previously, most car manufacturers have stuck to the top five tyre manufacturers. As this has already started to change, the introduction of the new tyre labelling laws, could very well encourage mass market car manufacturers to look closer at the budget brand tyres if they have similar results on the new labels.
Car manufacturers may feel able to justify to consumers that the economy brands will deliver the same performance as the more expensive mid-range and premium brands. As we have said before, there is actually much more to a tyre’s performance than just wet braking, rolling resistance and external noise, but it is often first impressions that count, especially when people are trying to save money. Of course, the fact that surveys have so far shown that most people don’t even know about the tyre label, let alone what’s on it, may lessen this affect as people will fall back on what they already ‘know’ about tyre brands.
More than likely, consumers will take these labels into consideration when choosing tyres. The people who are likely to do further research into other aspects of tyre performance such as wear and longevity, are probably the kind of people who would have done so anyway. So are we likely to see a change in the original equipment tyres that mass market car manufacturers choose? It is the mid-range tyre segment that will probably see the most change. Many of these are actually second brands that have been manufactured by the big five, and they may find themselves with less leverage on prices than previously so that the car manufacturers can negotiate cheaper prices to use them as original equipment.