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.
Joseph M. Gingo (58), who has held several key global technical and business leadership positions for the tiremaker, has been named executive vice president, quality systems and chief technical officer of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
Goodyear’s Eagle F1 GS-D3 “world tire” won praise just outside the company’s hometown last week, when company representatives accepted a NorTech Innovation Award for the unique, global tire.
The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) has rejected a proposal from Goodyear Tire & Rubber that reportedly asks for wage, pension and health benefit concessions. “Goodyear put what we consider a fair, good faith offer on the table for consideration by the Steelworkers,” says Chuck Sinclair, Goodyear’s vice president of public relations for North America. “This formal offer is the next logical step in the negotiation process that has continued for two months.” The contract between Goodyear and the USWA expired in April and the contract has been extended on a day-to-day basis since that point.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company played host to Nobel Prize winner Dr. Alan Heeger before he addressed the Akron Polymer Lecture Group at the University of Akron; a Goodyear-sponsored program for the past 50 years. Dr. Heeger was greeted at Goodyear’s Technical Center in Akron by Joseph M. Gingo, senior vice president, technology and global products planning, and Jonathan D. Rich, president of Goodyear’s North American Tire business. Dr. Heeger won the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry for the “discovery and development of conductive polymers.” He is professor of physics and materials at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and heads a research group at the University’s Center for Polymers and Organic Solids. Rich holds a doctorate in chemistry and Gingo has a chemical engineering degree.
Goodyear shareholders approved a company proposal to reduce the number of board members to at least 9 and no more than 15. Previous limits were 11 and 19. Three people were elected to three-year terms on the board: James C. Boland, former vice chairman of Ernst & Young and vice chairman of Cavs/Gund Arena Company, Steven A. Minter, president and executive director of the Cleveland Foundation and James M. Zimmerman, chairman of the board of Federated Department Stores. Samir Gibara will retire from the board on 30th June.
Goodyear has announced that Samir Gibara (64) will resign as chairman at the end of June. He will be succeeded by Robert Keegan (55), who is currently president and CEO and who will retain responsibility for these two roles. Gibara joined Goodyear in 1964 and has been chairman since July 1996. He paid tribute to the speed with which Keegan “learned the industry and demonstrated his leadership abilities”. For his part, Keegan said that Gibara had provided “important and valued counsel” since Keegan joined Goodyear in October 2000 as president and COO.
In India, Goodyear has launched a range of tubeless radial tyres, designed specifically for Indian road conditions. The tyres will fit Indian vehicles such as the Maruti 800, Santro, Ikon and Honda City and the aim is to improve fuel efficiency and safety.
The Paper, Allied-Industrial and Chemical Workers International Union (PACE) reported today that contract negotiations yesterday failed to end an almost two-year lockout of 86 union employees at Continental Carbon in Ponca City, Oklahoma. According to Ernie Anderson, PACE’s chief negotiator, Continental Carbon’s negotiators want union members to serve as contractors and bid against non-union firms for routine maintenance. “The company even insists that the union bids must be 30 per cent lower than other bids for union workers to perform the maintenance work,” said Anderson. Goodyear, one of the company’s largest customers, no longer purchases carbon black from Continental Carbon. PACE has warned customers, particularly tyre manufacturers, of the danger of using carbon black from Ponca City where less-experienced replacement workers and overworked managers have attempted to produce high quality carbon black. PACE has stated repeatedly, based on research from tyre experts, that defective or contaminated carbon black can cause tread separation.
Goodyear Dunlop UK Limited has begun a consultation process with the unions and public authorities regarding the restructuring of its UK Sales Operations at Tyrefort, Birmingham. Andreas Niegsch, General Manager, said the move was necessary “to become a more flexible, dynamic and responsive organisation in a highly competitive marketplace.” He added that the restructuring would mean job losses, with up to 116 associates affected at Tyrefort and 100 in field operations. The consultation process is scheduled to run for 90 days.
In the USA, Goodyear is gearing up for negotiations with the United Steelworkers of America about a new Master Contract, covering 10,000 hourly-paid workers. The previous two sets of negotiations (in 1997 and 1994) resulted in strikes and the current negotiations are taking place against the backdrop of financial losses and worker layoffs and, according to American newspapers, it is too soon in the negotiation process to tell whether or not another strike will result.
Yesterday was the final day for Goodyear to report its 2002 financial results or apply for a two-week extension. The company has said that it will not release financial details until it has finalised discussions with banks concerning restructuring, refinancing and securing loans, as “both subjects are related” said a spokesman. Goodyear denies it is facing a liquidity crisis, as some analysts have said, and the company has secured a new credit line of $1.3 billion.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has missed its Monday deadline for reporting its end of year results for 2002. The company is still in negotiations with banks over restructuring of its loans. It is currently seeking an extension with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that would give it until April 15 to file the information. However, Friday is a more impending deadline when the banks wish to complete discussions regarding the loans. Goodyear lost $203 million in 2001 and is expected to post a loss for a second year in a row. The filing with the SEC also requires companies to disclose a wide range of other audited financial data, including available cash, sales, assets, debts and capital resources. Failure to meet the extended deadline could see Goodyear facing a court order to disclose the information, along with civil fines. Goodyear said the only reason it needs an extension is because it is continuing to discuss its loan restructuring with a group of banks.
The car fleet tyre market has seen some changes recently. The forerunner of fleet tyre management was, we believe, FTM, first established in 1991. Cutting to the chase, two years ago as part of the Montinex Group, FTM almost went to the wall when Montinex collapsed. Its management included Kevin Parker, who was snapped up by National Fleet, then in the hands of Continental, and Dominic Bateson who in quick time arrived at the helm of General Motor’s backed Fit4Fleet. At the same time Kwik-Fit had been acquired by Ford and there was a drive to expand Kwik-Fit’s coverage of the fleet market. Sir Tom Farmer bought FTM from the receiver and brought in Mike Wise to operate FTM to cater for the independent sector alongside Kwik-Fit Fleet. This was an arrangement which despite Mike Wise’s team’s success in delivering the contracts, remained uneasy as many independents questioned FTM’s autonomy from Kwik-Fit. Some simply had a dislike, or fear, of the Kwik-Fit ogre. Now that FTM has gone and Kwik-Fit Fleet has turned its back on the independents the sector is in a state of flux. This, in depth feature airs the views of the top players in this important and growing sector. The two equity players, ATS and Hi-Q have leading positions in the sector though both freely admit to chasing Kwik-Fit. Central’s role is somewhat less, and anyway is masked in the figures of one of the larger fleet tyre management operation’s figures. ATS Euromaster is in the invidious position of having lost two of its top management, both appointed from outside the tyre trade to bring in fresh approaches. The past year has seen ATS putting a great deal of effort into the retail outlets, perhaps at the expense of the car fleet sector. “The coming year”, says Ian Thomas, strategic development and interim sales director, “will see a redirection of emphasis and a development of the fleet sector alongside the ongoing retail developments.” ATS Euromaster, which we will refer to from here as ATS, has been in the fleet sector for a long time, however it’s interests have historically been largely in the truck and agricultural sectors rather than the car and van fleets. In the truck fleet market ATS lays claim to 35 per cent of the tyre replacement market and 85 per cent of the truck breakdown market in the UK. The inroads into the car sector, though significant, are far less and Ian Thomas admits that in car fleet terms ATS is trailing market leader Kwik-Fit, though he stresses that the company’s second place in the sector is a long way ahead of the third largest player. Ian didn’t say which was the third largest player but at present we might estimate that the honour falls to either National Fleet or Hi-Q, though if AA Tyre Fit is as successful as Centrica hope that position may change within the year. Paul Harrell, retail director responsible for Hi-Q advises T&A that the Goodyear Dunlop equity has been under review and through 2003 will be taking on a new stronger Hi-Q branding, with a reorganisation which truly strengthens Hi-Q, putting them in leading positions in some sectors of the UK market. Mike Wise who proved himself as a contract winner at FTM has been retained as the sales director for Kwik-Fit Fleet. In a frank discussion with T&A Mike was quite open about his thoughts on the market … “Honestly, I don’t think there is a future for the independent tyre retailer in the fleet tyre market … Kwik-Fit wins on every count … there will always be some work for them [the independents], but in the long term I question their viability against the strengths of Kwik-Fit.” To find out how the competition responded to Mike’s outspoken views read the most in depth discussion on the fleet tyre sector ever written …
DoveBid Inc., a provider of capital asset auction and valuation services, has announced it will conduct a Webcast auction for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company on March 19, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time in Stow, Ohio. The auction will include the a complete tyre mould building facility including CNC machining and engraving machinery, aluminium foundry, heat treatment plant, finishing and tool room equipment. To participate in this auction, buyers may bid live via the Internet at www.dovebid.com or attend in person.
The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) has announced that it is beginning master contract negotiations with Goodyear in Cincinnati. The talks will address contracts covering 20,000 members and 22,000 retirees across the U.S. USWA International Vice President Andrew V. Palm will lead the USWA Goodyear/Kelly-Springfield/Dunlop bargaining team. “The security of our members’ jobs, wages, benefits and retirement earnings are our paramount concern,” he stated. “We are convinced that Goodyear can return to profitability while also ensuring these basic protections. We do not intend to allow the company to restructure itself on the backs of its workers. If they don’t see us as part of the solution, it will only compound problems.”
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