2025 Nov Tire Price Up
The root cause of the price increase in passenger car tires in November 2025 lies in the continued surge in raw material prices, which account for over 70% of production costs. As a core raw material for tire manufacturing, natural rubber prices entered an upward trend starting in 2024, and remained high in 2025, with a year-on-year increase of over 15%.
This is due, on the one hand, to limited supply in major global producing regions: floods in Thailand, reduced production in Vietnam, and the cessation of tapping in Hainan and Yunnan provinces in China led to a sharp decline in natural rubber output; on the other hand, the recovery in downstream tire production rates brought increased demand, further pushing up prices due to the supply-demand imbalance.
Besides rubber, other key raw material prices also rose. Synthetic rubber, which relies on petroleum byproducts (accounting for 20% of costs), continued to rise in price due to fluctuations in international oil prices, while carbon black prices saw a year-on-year increase of over 30%, with the shortage of its raw material, coal tar, being the main driver.
The combined effect of rising raw material prices has plunged tire companies into a "price inversion" dilemma, with profits of major listed tire companies in China falling by more than 50%, making price increases an inevitable choice to maintain operations.
Under the pressure of raw material costs, a new round of price adjustments was launched by domestic and foreign tire companies in November 2025, covering all categories of passenger car tires. Among foreign brands, Michelin, Goodyear, and Continental had already completed price adjustments of 3%-8% at the beginning of the year, and some brands added further increases in November.
Hankook, for example, raised prices for its passenger car PCR tires by 7%. Domestic companies followed suit, with many companies announcing price increases of 1%-4% starting November 1st.
Within the passenger car tire sub-categories, winter tires became the most prominent example of price increases in November, exhibiting a dual-driven characteristic of "cost + demand". From the demand side, many European countries mandate the use of winter tires from November to April of the following year, and northern China is also entering its peak season for snow tire replacement, with seasonal demand increasing by more than 30% compared to normal times.
Winter tires from brands like Hankook and Kumho, due to their special anti-skid materials and manufacturing processes, are already priced 30% higher than regular tires, and prices rise further during peak season demand.
Supply-side constraints have exacerbated the upward pressure on winter tire prices. After the National Day holiday in October, 47 out of 59 semi-steel tire manufacturers in China suspended production for holidays, with an average shutdown of more than 5 days, limiting the release of winter tire production capacity.
At the same time, environmental emission reduction policies in northern China during autumn and winter forced some tire factories to limit production, further compressing supply. Under this supply-demand imbalance, the prices of mainstream brand winter tires in November generally increased by 8%-12% compared to September, with some in-demand models even experiencing shortages.
The tire price increase has triggered a chain reaction throughout the entire industry chain. For dealers, to mitigate the risk of future price increases, they stocked up in advance, causing the industry's inventory turnover days to shorten from 35 days to 28 days, leading to a "buying frenzy" in some areas. Tire retailers, on the other hand, face a dilemma: they need to absorb the pressure of rising prices from upstream suppliers while worrying that price increases will affect customer traffic.
Most stores have opted to slightly raise the total installation price, with the average retail price per tire increasing by 5%-7%. For consumers, the increased costs of purchasing and using vehicles due to the price hikes are gradually becoming apparent.
