A customer inspects tyres at a shop in Sanchaung Township. Retailers say price is still the major consideration for customers.

CHEAPER prices, ready availability and fair quality still make Chinese-made tyres an attractive choice for Myanmar’s car owners, market sources in Yangon said.

Though tyres imported from Japan, India and Thailand are all available on the market, the main determinant of customer choice is price – which bolsters the popularity of the Chinese product.

“Some people pay attention to quality, but they probably make up fewer than 10 percent of our customers,” said U Thein Tun, the managing director of the Mother Land tyre wholesale centre in Sanchaung township.

He said Chinese tyres were the popular choice for his customers, who would pay from K20,000 to K300,000 depending on quality and size. The price of a comparable Thai-made tyre varied from K40,000 to K350,000, he added.

“Though Chinese tyres are cheaper than other imported ones, the quality is not the selling point. Their average lifespan is from six months to one year,” U Thein Tun said.

Ko Myo Oo from Myanmar Eaisar Thaya tyre wholesale centre said customers usually paid attention to the tread pattern of a tyre and its price.

“Some customers like tyres with new tread designs. The arrow pattern is the most popular design,” he said, adding that the best selling size is 185/70R14.
He said most customers bought new tyres only when their existing tyres were damaged.

“As most customers are concerned with price, they buy a new tyre only when the old one is worn out. Though there are some customers who regularly change their tyres, it’s a very low percentage,” he said.

Ko Myo Oo said most retailers bought used tyres, which were priced according to tread condition.

“We sell back used tyres to bus and taxi owners at a profit of only about K3000,” he said, adding that a used tyre would have on average three months’ wear.

But there are still some customers who prefer quality over price when selecting tyres for their car, according to U Thein Naing, managing director of Tri Star General Trading Co Ltd, importer of Japanese brand Falken.

He said some well-to-do customers, who usually travel long distances, pay attention to the quality and they constitute about 60 percent of his customers.
“Tyres are important for safety of a car so customers should pay more attention to the quality of a tyre instead of its price,” he said.

He said that the average price gap between a Chinese and Japanese tyre is about 30pc, using the example of the most popular tyre size, 31x10.5R15. The price of a Chinese tyre of the size is about K100,000, he said, while a Japanese brand is priced at about K130,000.