Three More Years for the Turnaround

In a recent interview Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co’s CEO Robert Keegan has told Germany’s daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that the company needs three years to get its US tyre business back on track to healthier profits.

Mr Keegan is reported to have said that Goodyear’s European business was making better progress. The company hasn’t posted a consolidated net profit since 2000, however it managed to record profits in the second quarter from North America and other regions.
Rising oil and rubber prices, which make up around 85 per cent of its raw material costs, were of further concern to the CEO, who said the increased costs would pose additional problems for the company.

Goodyear is expecting raw material costs to increase by five to seven per cent, in the second half after a marginal three to four per cent rise in the first six months of this financial year.

Mr Keegan also announced that the company’s operations are currently under review, with the exception of its passenger and truck tyre businesses and its chemicals activities all sectors of the business are under threat of imminent ‘disposal’. “We’re conducting talks currently,” he said. “We have a whole range of activities that we can sell.”