The “tide of price increases” continues to spread across the automotive industry chain.
Since entering 2026, the price of lithium carbonate has rebounded sharply, the supply of automotive-grade memory chips has been tight, and the industry has long-term competition, pushing the entire vehicle industry into a cost-driven price adjustment cycle.
According to incomplete statistics, since this year, more than ten new energy vehicle companies have announced price increases or reductions in terminal discounts.
The increase in car prices is not an isolated phenomenon. Behind it is the concentrated release of cost pressure in the entire industry chain. In the upstream tire segment, a more intensive round of price adjustments is underway.
Since mid-April this year, the domestic tire industry has ushered in the second round of price increases this year.
Recently, Bridgestone issued the “Notice on Price Adjustment”, which will increase the price of passenger car tires by 3% to 5% starting from May 1.
Subsequently, domestic mainstream brands such as Zhongce Rubber, Sailun Tire, Linglong Tire, and Wanli Tire followed suit.
Tengsen Rubber even announced that starting from May 1, all products will be raised by 10%, setting the largest price adjustment in this round.
From foreign giants to local companies, from passenger tires to all-steel truck tires, the price adjustment pace is intensive and the coverage is wide, which is rare in recent years.
According to incomplete statistics, as of April 20, more than 70 tire companies have issued “price increase letters.”
Why are tire prices rising?
The overall increase in raw material costs has become one of the core reasons for this round of tire price increases.
According to data from Zhuochuang Information, raw materials account for more than 70% of tire production costs, and the three core raw materials of natural rubber, synthetic rubber, and carbon black account for more than 60% in total.
Since March this year, the prices of these raw materials have been rising simultaneously.
Affected by factors such as abnormal climate and supply mismatch in Southeast Asian production areas, the price of natural rubber has risen to a nearly three-year high; synthetic rubber is highly tied to international crude oil prices, and the turmoil in the Middle East has pushed up oil prices, driving up the cost of chemical raw materials; prices of auxiliary materials such as carbon black have also risen simultaneously.
Data show that the average production cost of all-steel tires in March exceeded 970 yuan/unit, an increase of nearly 7% from January. However, most companies’ price adjustments this round are only between 1% and 5%, which means that after tire companies increase their selling prices, they may still not be able to fully cover the cost increase.
However, it is worth noting that in the context of collective price increases in the industry, the rise of China’s automobile industry, especially new energy vehicles, has brought structural opportunities to domestic tires.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s rubber tire casing production will be 1.207 billion units in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 0.9%.
Data from the General Administration of Customs show that China’s rubber tire exports will be 9.65 million tons in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 3.6%.
Domestic tires break through.
According to data from the China Automobile Association, the market share of self-owned brand passenger cars has reached 69.5% in 2025, which has led to a significant increase in domestic tire matching capabilities. The market share of domestic tires in the original equipment market of passenger cars has soared from 10% in 2020 to 65% in 2025.
In the original equipment market for large-size tires 18 inches and above, this figure has climbed to 69%.
“Currently, eight of the world’s top ten automobile companies have chosen Linglong Tire as their supporting partners.” Zhou Lingkun, President of Shandong Linglong Tire Co., Ltd., said that Linglong Tire has become a leading company in the domestic passenger car market and in the global sales of supporting tires for new energy vehicles.
In fact, technological upgrading and changes in demand structure are jointly opening up the upward path for domestic tires.
Faced with changes in the industry, leading domestic tire companies have successively turned to high-end and value competition.
Previously, Zhongce Rubber released the “No. 1 Racing” series, while Wanli Tire launched the e-era high-end series focusing on the demand for new energy vehicles. Recently, Linglong Tire released the “Master II” new product and launched exclusive online pre-sales on JD.com.
This also means that the high-end breakthrough of domestic tires is advancing along two lines: the product side uses technological iteration to impact the high-profit market that foreign brands have long controlled; the channel side uses the network and traffic of e-commerce platforms to shorten the distance from factories to consumers.
The breakthrough of high-end domestic tires is inseparable from the steady development of China’s automobile industry.
For example, Zhongce Rubber pointed out in its 2025 annual report that China’s new energy vehicle industry will continue to lead the world in 2025, with production and sales scale and export volume breaking historical records, and the synergy effect of the industrial chain being highlighted, bringing unprecedented development opportunities to local tire companies. It not only opens up the incremental space in the supporting market, but also helps domestic tire brands achieve a double increase in global visibility and influence, breaking the long-term monopoly of foreign brands in the mid-to-high-end supporting market.
“In the past year, domestic tires accounted for more than 30% of JD.com’s high-end tire orders, which means that 1 out of every 3 car owners who bought high-end tires actively chose domestic brands. More importantly, domestic brands not only have equal performance, but also have prices that are more than 20% discounted.” The person in charge of JD.com Car Care said that whether it is the original equipment market data or the choice of replacement market users, it is proved that domestic tires have entered the era of “good products”.
