During a media event hosted earlier this week by Philippine Allied Enterprises Corporation, the local distributor of Bridgestone tires, company president and CEO Marc Tagle revealed to TopGear.com.ph what the Japanese tiremaker's market share in the country is.
"Bridgestone's market share in the Philippines is around 17%," said Tagle, a figure that supposedly makes the brand number one in our market.
When asked what the next brands are after Bridgestone in terms of sales, Tagle mentioned "Goodyear and then Yokohama," although he refused to provide specific percentage figures for these rival brands. Yokohama, he said, has a sizable share by virtue of the fact that the Philippine units of the Toyota Vios and Innova are equipped with Yokohama tires.
He did explain that determining market shares in the tire industry is quite complicated especially since smuggling is rampant in this business. Not to mention that there are so many brands that come from China. There are, however, pretty reliable indicators that give them a clear picture of the market.
"We monitor the tiremakers' production output at their manufacturing facilities, for example," Tagle shared. "And then we determine how much of this output reaches the Philippines."
Tagle's company commissions a market-research firm to conduct this survey, he added.
As for the countless Chinese tire brands right now, the Bridgestone boss said that, taken separately, these brands are still very minor players in the local tire business, but taken collectively, they make a significant dent in the market. "I would say they account for around 10-12% of the market as a group," he reckoned.
So, what's your tire brand?
