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.
Rupert Kohaupt, formerly Goodyear Dunlop’s director of commercial vehicle tyres in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, has been appointed the tyre maker’s commercial vehicle tyre sales director for emerging markets. In his new Brussels-based role, the 30-year company veteran will continue the expansion of the growing emerging markets.
As part of Goodyear Dunlop’s International Customer Service Week between 1 and 5 October, company’s customer service team visited tyre dealers, franchisees, retailers and wholesalers in no less than 54 locations throughout the UK. The aim was to build relationships and get face to face with the customer, and Goodyear took the opportunity to congratulate its customers for their continued support and cooperation following what it calls a “year of diverse internal improvements.”
Goodyear is reducing production at its Fayetteville plant in the US for the second time in three months, reports Tire Review. The decision to decrease production is describes as a measure to “align production with inventory” in the slow North American tyre market.
Ford has once again chosen Goodyear’s Eagle SuperCar G:2 as original equipment on its most powerful Mustang, the Shelby GT500. The 2013 Shelby, which is now available in North America, is fitted with the Goodyear tyre in size P265/40ZR19 on the front axle and P285/35ZR20 on the rear.
Goodyear Dunlop is now sole tyre supplier to the 500 vehicle fleet operated by A.F. Blakemore & Son Ltd after the West Midlands-based logistics firm signed a service agreement with the tyre maker. The deal, which will involve A.F. Blakemore fitting a combination of Goodyear’s Regional Haul range and NextTread products, was brokered by Truck Tyre Solutions – a member of Goodyear Dunlop’s TruckForce network.
Another leading name may be the top brand in terms of both prominence and sentiment according to our annual online brand equity survey (see ‘Michelin top again, but is lead eroding?’ for more on this), however there is a new top social tyre brand in town. A year after we kicked off our coverage and analysis of this segment in last years’s e-Commerce feature, Goodyear has shown itself to not only be the faster riser, but also the top overall tyre brand when it comes to social media influence.
Paul Fitzhenry has been elected by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s board of directors as senior vice president of global communications, effective 8 October.
Fitzhenry will report to Richard J. Kramer, Goodyear’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. As chief communications officer, Fitzhenry will be responsible for leading Goodyear’s global communications strategy and aligning it with the company’s business objectives, global strategy, and corporate mission.
As part of the launch of the Goodyear Ultragrip 8 Performance in September, Goodyear advised motorists – especially those driving performance vehicles – that fitting winter tyres is the best way to prepare for the forthcoming winter. According to the Met Office, 366.8mm of rain fell across the UK up to 29 August showed. And what’s more the latest figures follow a record breakingly wet April, and an April to June period that was also the wettest recorded in the UK.
US publication Popular Mechanics has named Goodyear’s Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) a 2012 Breakthrough Award winner. The tyre maker, along with this year’s other awardees, will be honoured at a ceremony in New York City on 4 October.
Visitors to September’s CITExpo show in Shanghai were able to spot Austyre Australia’s stand from afar, as a larger-than-life inflatable kangaroo greeted anyone who stopped by. But Austyre Australia had more on offer than just air-filled macropods – the Dandenong-based company is the firm behind the Austyre brand of passenger car, light truck, UHP, SUV and truck tyres.
When Goodyear sold its steel tyre cord factories in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg and Asheboro, US to Korea’s Hyosung Corporation in mid-2011, the tyre maker reported entering into a multi-year agreement for Hyosung to supply it with finished wire products. Now, less than 18 months after Goodyear sold the plants and the right to use certain patents and know-how for US$50 million, Hyosung Corporation has announced the closure of the Asheboro facility. Some 310 employees will be affected by this decision.
Chinese manufacturer Triangle Tyre shares that it managed to dramatically increase sales volumes in certain markets last year. Particular growth areas were Russia and Brazil, where sales volume growth reached 186 per cent and 179 per cent respectively. South African market sales volumes rose 16 per cent during this period. Sales volumes in Russia are also said to have doubled again in the first half of 2012.
It’s 13 feet in diameter, weighs almost five and a half tonnes and can be seen in Las Vegas….we are of course talking about the latest and largest member of Goodyear’s OTR tyre family, its 63-inch mining tyre. This giant has made its debut at this week’s MINExpo 2012 show in the US, and will be on display at Goodyear’s stand there until 26 September.
New Zealand-based firm Eurotread Ltd. has reported continuous growth in sales in the last three years. Managing Director Glad Rack has maintained the high quality standards of Bob Cranfield, the entrepreneur who started the business – and the close strategic partnership with his material supplier Kraiburg Austria, helping the independent Auckland-based retreader to turn over the equivalent of just under 1.9 million euros in 2011.
At this week’s IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Germany, Goodyear is launching its first ever dedicated European-market coach tyres, the Goodyear Marathon Coach and Goodyear Ultra Grip Coach winter drive tyre. Both tyres are available in 295/80R22.5 and 315/80R22.5, with all products to be available on the market by the end of October.
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