According to the results of our survey, demand for replacement tires remained somewhat encouraging in October. Indeed, from a volume standpoint the dealers reported that they sold 0.8% more tires last month on a year-over-year basis, following a 1.2% increase in September and a 0.1% increase in August. We were pleased to see that volume trends remained positive for the ninth consecutive month, as dealers indicated that consumers appear to be allocating a greater portion of their income to tire and automotive repairs during this fall/ winter selling season in an attempt to catch-up on work that was deferred in prior months. In our view, the data support our belief that the underlying fundamentals remain healthy and that consumer demand should remain fairly strong in the coming months.
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