BYD Boosts Chinese Tire Global Growth
With the increasing weight of new energy vehicles and the continued rise in SUV market penetration, the global passenger car tire supply is trending towards larger sizes, with 18-inch and 19-inch tires becoming the mainstream specifications for new energy vehicles. As a leading global new energy vehicle manufacturer, BYD's tire supply system is highly representative of the industry, boasting comprehensive product size coverage and a well-developed tiered layout.
This not only demonstrates the achievements of China's tire industry in upgrading its supply chain but also clearly exposes the current structural limitations of the industry, providing important reference for its international development.
Looking at BYD's overall tire supply data, its size structure aligns with the market demands of all vehicle segments, exhibiting a significant tiered structure. Currently, 18-inch and 19-inch tires are the core suppliers, accounting for approximately 55% of all tire installations, widely compatible with the brand's mid-to-high-end mainstream passenger vehicles.
Meanwhile, 16-inch and 17-inch smaller-sized tires maintain a stable share, accounting for 25% of total supply, primarily for mass-produced family cars. Even with its newly iterated product lineup over the past two years, BYD still retains its 15-inch tire original equipment solution for entry-level micro-commuter vehicles, fully covering the low-end commuter and mid-range family car markets.
In the entry-level vehicle original equipment market, Chinese domestic tire brands have established an absolute advantage. BYD's entry-level models priced at 100,000 yuan and below all use domestically produced tires, with no foreign brands currently offering original equipment options. Sailun Tire stands out in this segment, accounting for 42.5% of original equipment supply and serving as a core strategic partner supplier.
In addition, leading domestic tire companies such as Linglong, Chaoyang, and Giti continue to deeply integrate with the market, leveraging stable product quality, precise vehicle compatibility, and high cost-effectiveness to firmly hold a core share of the original equipment market for entry-level new energy vehicles, building a mature localized original equipment supply chain system.
BYD's original equipment strategy is a microcosm of the overall upgrading of China's tire industry. Currently, mainstream domestic automakers and emerging car manufacturers are continuously increasing the proportion of domestically produced tires used as original equipment. Benefiting from the global development of the new energy vehicle industry, China's tire industry has achieved a steady leapfrog development.
Historically, leading international tire brands have long monopolized the global mid-to-high-end original equipment (OEM) market, while domestic tire companies have primarily focused on the aftermarket replacement sector, resulting in weak bargaining power within the OEM supply chain. However, with continuous upgrades in domestic tire manufacturing processes, product performance, and new energy vehicle compatibility technologies, local companies have successfully entered the core supply chains of mainstream automakers, fundamentally optimizing the competitive landscape of the domestic tire industry.
From a B2B industry layout and international development perspective, the Chinese tire industry still exhibits significant structural weaknesses. Currently, the OEM resources for domestically produced tires are highly concentrated in the market for mass-produced vehicles priced below 250,000 yuan.
This segment boasts large shipment volumes and a broad market base, serving as a core support for industry growth. However, the added value and profit margins are relatively low, hindering the development and commercialization of high-end tire products.
In contrast, international tire brands have consistently cultivated the mid-to-high-end OEM market above 250,000 yuan, leveraging the endorsement of high-end models to firmly occupy the high-profit aftermarket replacement market, forming robust brand and profit barriers.
Given this industry situation, domestic tire companies are deeply cultivating the original equipment (OEM) market. Their core strategic goal is not short-term profitability, but rather leveraging OEM resources to achieve brand exposure, channel development, and global expansion.
Public data shows that in the first half of 2026, BYD's vehicle exports reached 789,000 units, with overseas sales accounting for over 43%, indicating a continued acceleration in its global market expansion. Riding the wave of overseas expansion by Chinese OEMs like BYD, domestic tire manufacturers have successfully established overseas OEM sales channels, breaking through the limitations of the traditional domestic market and officially participating in global OEM market competition.
For a long time, Chinese tire products have maintained a stable market share and basic brand awareness in the global aftermarket, but their brand influence in the international OEM market is weak, hindering the overall brand premiumization and internationalization upgrade.
The continuously expanding domestic and international OEM business can help domestic tire companies accumulate global OEM experience, improve their overseas supply chain systems, continuously enhance their global market awareness, and gradually overcome the brand recognition shortcomings in the OEM market.
Overall, China's tire industry has achieved a leapfrog development in terms of scale. In the future, the core development direction of the industry will focus on technological research and development breakthroughs and product upgrading, so as to realize the transformation and upgrading from large-scale overseas expansion to quality and brand-oriented internationalization, and further enhance the core competitiveness of the global B2B market.
