Goodyear to ‘Adjust Inventory’ Through Temporary Shutdowns

Goodyear’s Gadsden factory will stop producing tyres for 16 days from August 16, and four other Goodyear consumer sector tyre facilities in North America are also reducing tyre production. Goodyear Gadsden communications manager Jackie Brehm Edmondson said the Goodyear plant will shut down at 1pm August 16 and reopen at 7am September 2 for an ‘inventory adjustment.’ Plant employees were told of the plans on August 1.

“Goodyear is reducing production levels at several of its North American consumer tyre plants to align with industry demand and responsible inventory targets,” Ms Edmondson said. “The North American tyre industry continues to experience weakness in the original equipment sector as well as certain segments of the replacement tire business. It is necessary to align production levels with industry demand.

The tyremaker plans to reduce consumer tyre production in North America by eight million units this year, Edmondson added. According to the communications manager, the other affected Goodyear facilities are Lawton, Oklahoma; Fayetteville, North Carolina; Union City, Tennessee; and Napanee, Canada. Ms Edmondson stressed that the US$125 million modernisation project at Gadsden would not be affected by the upcoming closure.