Founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Akron, Ohio. It is one of the oldest, biggest and best-known tyremakers in the world. Goodyear makes tyres for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, SUVs, racing cars, aeroplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-mover machinery. Find all the news and analysis you need relating to Goodyear here.
Michelin has responded to an article published by newspaper Le Figaro, which stated France’s competition council was looking into a case of market abuse involving the tyre maker. On August 14 the company stated that its behaviour has been “impeccable” and that it does not dominate the French market.
MAM Software is aiming to target the tyre market following the company’s appointment of Graham Dunford as a new Senior Sales Manager for its Autopart ERP solution. Dunford will spearhead the company’s drive into the tyre market, with a focus on increasing its penetration of the retail, wholesale and fast-fit sectors.
MAM Software is reportedly the largest provider of distribution and retail ERP solutions into the automotive aftermarket and has already established a significant user base in the tyre, fast fit and repair sector. As well as supplying national chains such as Formula 1 Autocentres, Mr Clutch, Wilco Fastfit, LSUK and Just Car Clinics, MAM also supports several well-known regional tyre companies and exhaust distributors including CES, Goodtread and Cooper Brothers.
The French Ministry of Finance is looking into the possibility that Michelin has abused its market power in its home market. According to the daily newspaper Le Figaro, the Ministry has given the case to the nation’s competition council regulator.
The paper says Michelin informed its distributors in late 2007 that it would cut commercial advantages to distributors retaining direct or indirect links to a rival tyre manufacturer. Tyre distributor Vulco, a subsidiary company of Goodyear, reportedly complained to the DGCCRF (the General Directorate for Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control), a unit of the Ministry of Finance.
In a new evaluation of summer performance tires by Tire Rack, the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec topped the Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R, Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 and Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212 tires, Goodyear claimed. The tyres, in size 225/45R17, were tested on a 2008 BMW 335i coupe, according to Goodyear. Matt Neidert, Dunlop brand performance manager, said, “Tire Rack’s recent test results, combined with several SCCA Solo National Tour victories in 2008, validate the performance capabilities of the new ‘Star Spec’ tread compound, which helps initial dry grip during sanctioned amateur driving events.”
Caterpillar Inc has awarded Goodyear with its “Supplier Quality Excellence Process Certification” bronze certificate in recognition of the quality of its earthmover tyres. The award recognises the achievement as well as the “know how” of Goodyear with regard to the quality of their earthmover tyres and their ability to supply to the customer.
Goodyear earthmover tyres are produced in Luxembourg and distributed for use across Europe. The Luxembourg plant produces a top quality product for use as Original Equipment for Caterpillar and other leading manufacturers as well as replacement tyres for the construction industry.
Goodyear Dunlop has announced the launch of a global health and safety plan after a worker was injured in an accident at the company’s Wolverhampton plant. Goodyear Dunlop pleaded guilty to breaching the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act in a hearing before Birmingham magistrates at the beginning of August. The manufacturer was fined £13,500 and ordered to pay £2,888.04 in costs plus £4000 in damages.
Goodyear Dunlop’s main response has come in the form of it new “No one gets hurt” plan, which includes safety awareness training, and risk assessments that are designed to lead to improvements in processes and equipment usage. “[Goodyear Dunlop] has a positive commitment towards health and safety and continues to strive towards a culture and environment in which all its employees can work safely. We will learn from the findings of this case and continue to improve towards achieving our objective of No-one Gets Hurt,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
In early August Goodyear was host to more than 50 representatives from DAF Trucks along with fleet customers, presenting a workshop to show the benefits of specifying the latest DAF truck models with the new Goodyear Max Technology tyres. Included in the event, held at Goodyear’s European Technical Centre in Luxembourg, was a visit to the company’s truck tyre production facility in Wittlich, Germany and its Luxembourg Mounting Facility (LMC), where tyres earmarked for OE manufacturers are fitted to wheels before shipment to truck manufacturers.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. officials will be presenting at the upcoming 11th annual JP Morgan Harbour Auto Conference, to be held in Dearborn, Michigan. on 14 August. The tyremaker’s presentation, which will discuss its future plans, will be web cast live at 10:45 am EST on the company’s investor relations Web site: http://investor.goodyear.com.
Mastercraft Tires, an associate brand of Cooper Tire & Rubber, has appointed Warwick-based Silverline International as its official UK distributor. T&A spoke with Silverline’s Chris Dawson about the new range, and what attracted the company to the brand.
“We had been speaking with Cooper Avon over a period of two years, and they offered the Mastercraft brand to us in a mutually satisfactory deal,” explains Mr. Dawson. “For some time we had been looking long-term for a partner that could give continuity of supply. For us the ability to supply light truck sizes was important.
During a lifetime’s experience in the tyre trade, Mike Mansfield has created a dynamic family company that has established an outstanding reputation as a successful niche market tyre and specialised tube wholesaler.
Soopa Toobs (Tyres) Limited was founded in May 1983 and is still based at its original home in Colliers End, near Ware in Hertfordshire. “In conversation with Tyres & Accessories, Mike Mansfield said, “the business began, with some assistance from a sympathetic bank manager and the unwavering support of my very understanding wife, Tricia. After consulting with a number of tyre industry luminaries, and based upon some market research, the decision was taken to opt for the tube market.
AIM Global, a trade association recognised as an authority on automatic identification and mobility, has announced the public release of new guidelines for the verification and qualification of design and manufacture for RFID chips and transponders in tyres. The guidelines were produced by the RFID Experts Group for use by the tyre and related industries in the development of RFID technology in new products.
The guidelines target item level tagging where the RFID tag may be present in various formats, including a label, incorporated into a patch that is permanently affixed to the inner or outer surface of a tyre, or incorporated during manufacture into the structure of the tyre as an integral component.
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.
In the US Goodyear has joined the latest round of industry prices increases, announcing a September 1 price hike of up to10 per cent. The tyremaker said the increase would cover all of its Goodyear, Dunlop, Kelly-Springfield and associate brand passenger, light truck and commercial light truck and medium truck tyres. Separately, prices on Goodyear OTR tyres will increase by up to 7 per cent on September 1. (Tire Review/Akron)
St Austell tyre trade expert, Justin Roberton, has rubber-stamped a deal to own three fast fit centres in Cornwall, after his ambitious bid for a slice of a national franchise plan was accepted. Roberton has successfully applied for the Cornwall zone of the HiQ Franchise Programme, and will now run garages in Truro, Bodmin, and St Austell.
The regional manager is only the second man to be unveiled as a HiQ regional franchise owner following the decision by Goodyear Dunlop to group its existing, company-owned HiQ outlets into 15 regional zones.
The explosion of two reactor units at Goodyear’s Bayport Plant in La Porte, Houston, Texas on Saturday 2nd August has sprayed the air with the chemical Methylethyl Benzine, leading to health concerns for the local populus. The chemical can cause respiratory problems, and several motorists in the area were taken to hospital as a result of breathing the air into which it was dispersed.
Nobody at the plant has reported any illness resulting from the incident, while all of those admitted to hospital have been cleared of any immediately obvious injury. There are concerns about the long-term implications of breathing in the gas. The causes of the explosion are as yet unexplained.
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