Goodyear ‘clarifies’ Triangle position

Following the recent publication of “Triangle and Goodyear in ‘long-term cooperation’”, which picked up on a smaller thread in Triangle’s recent conference coverage (see “Triangle ‘goes global’ at Weihai summit”), Goodyear spokespeople from the firm’s US and European headquarters contacted Tyres & Accessories in order to comment on the report. Presenting a statement on the subject, the Goodyear representatives said “Goodyear wishes to set the record straight on public comments made by Triangle.”

Goodyear’s statement centred on three specific points and began by confirming that “Goodyear has had a small agreement with Triangle for non-branded economy tyres” before playing down the significance of the cooperation by adding “that has diminished over time”.

The second point of the statement, sought to counter suggestions of any kind of broadening of Goodyear’s relationship with Triangle: “Goodyear has no other relationship with Triangle and has no intention of expanding its relationship.”

And the final point simply emphasised the lack of ongoing connection between Triangle CEO Pierre Cohade and Goodyear, suggesting Cohade’s relationship with the US tyre maker was brought to an end at the behest of Goodyear, saying: “Goodyear relieved Mr. Cohade of his responsibilities in 2011.”

Tyres & Accessories asked Goodyear’s Akron headquarters to clarify if Triangle has ever produced Goodyear-branded tyres of any kind in any of its factories and what it meant by saying it “relieved” Cohade of his responsibilities in 2011, but company representatives declined to comment.