Michelin sales dip 0.5% to €19.18bn in first nine months of 2026

Michelin booked €19.18bn ($21.55bn) in sales for the first nine months of 2026, down 0.5% year-on-year but up 1% at constant exchange rates. The French tyre maker confirmed its full-year guidance anyway, and volumes tell a more nuanced story than the headline.

Tyre volumes fell 0.8%, costing €159m in sales, as weaker original equipment (OE, the automaker-fitment channel) demand hit all three of Michelin's main tyre segments. Michelin-brand replacement volumes rose 4%, cushioning the blow.

Scope effects — the sales impact of businesses acquired or sold rather than organic performance — added €179m, or 0.9%. That comes from the additions of Cooley Group and Flexitallic in the first half of 2026 and TexTech from 1 July 2026, all folded into Polymer Composite Solutions. These deals offset the sale of Michelin's compact line business to Indian tyre maker Ceat in the third quarter of 2025.

Foreign exchange cut sales by €300m, or 1.6%, on a weaker US dollar against the euro in the first half. Third-quarter currency moves turned favourable.

How did each segment perform?

• Consumer: revenue down 1% to €10.39bn, volumes up 0.5%.
• Transportation: revenue down 3.7% to €4.34bn on volumes down 1.5%. Third-quarter revenue rose 1.7%, as OE sales improved in North America on a recovery in Class 8 heavy truck orders.
• Specialities: revenue slipped 0.9% to €3.28bn, but up 0.4% excluding the compact line divestment.
• Polymer Composite Solutions: revenue up 21.9% to €1.14bn, but down 2.7% excluding scope effects. Weakness in Conveyors — tied to cautious mining customers and a soft iron ore market — outweighed growth elsewhere.

What do replacement markets look like?

Michelin said the passenger car and light truck replacement market grew 6% in China over the period. It fell 3% in North and Central America and 1% in Europe. That split matters: China is the only major replacement market expanding, while Michelin's traditional strongholds in Europe and North America are shrinking.

What does this change for suppliers? Not much yet. Michelin is holding its full-year guidance, which targets growth in segment operating income at constant exchange rates and scope versus 2025, plus free cash flow before M&A above €1.6bn. The company is absorbing weak OE demand and soft Western replacement markets through pricing, mix and acquisitions rather than revising targets.

The question now is whether North American truck OE recovery — the Class 8 order rebound — sustains into the fourth quarter, and whether Chinese replacement growth keeps offsetting declines elsewhere.

Watch next: Michelin publishes its 2026 annual results on 11 February 2027. That's the date to see whether the €1.6bn cash flow target held and whether Transportation returned to growth in Q4.