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.
Two employees of a US company with links to a Chinese tyre manufacturer has been arrested and charged with conspiring to steal trade secrets from Goodyear Tire & Rubber. Clark Alan Roberts, 46, and Sean Edward Howley, 38, both engineers for Tennessee based Wyko Tire Technology, were arraigned before a federal magistrate in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 6, after being named in a 12-count indictment.
In the US, Goodyear’s Topeka, Kansas plant is the latest to usher in a series of buyouts and layoffs, cutting its staff by between 200 and 225. The decision follows the manufacturer’s announcement made in the wake of its 2008 EOY report, which stated that it would be” taking aggressive action… to better match market conditions” by cutting 5,000 jobs in 2009. Steelworkers Local 307 voted in favour of an agreement to change contract regulations relating to staffing and production levels.
In a news release, Local 307 president Robert Tripp said the economic situation, customer demand and product inventory led union workers to agree to lowering the staffing and production level provisions.
“During these discussions the union’s primary focus was to protect each of our members and their families during these uncertain economic times,” he said in a statement. “This agreement was made to improve the viability of the plant and to improve its cost structure so that the Topeka facility shall remain competitive.”
Every year Goodyear runs its “Highway Hero” awards in the US, honouring professional truck drivers who go out of their way, often risking their own safety, to help others. Finalists in this, the 26th annual Goodyear North America Highway Hero Awards, include a team of two professional truck drivers from Illinois who reacted to a collision with an out-of-control van by pulling the unconscious driver to safety after the crash; a California truck driver who noticed a glow off the freeway and followed it to find a car in flames and a driver trapped inside; a Tennessee truck driver who made a quick decision to pull a man from a disabled car seconds before it was fully engulfed in flames; and a Colorado driver hauling grain who was shocked when his truck was hit head-on in a fiery collision, but then had the presence of mind to save two young lives. Nikolay Zashev, Tihomir Tanev, Willie Wilson, Roy Hackett and Jorge Orozco Sanchez, were on March 3 named finalists in this highly esteemed award for trucking heroism.
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A new official Goodyear distributor has been appointed in Malta, United Automobile Limited (UAL). The beginning of this relationship was marked at a UAL service centre in Lija, and was attended by Goodyear’s Mediterranean regional business leader, Martin Lumb.
The NFL has its Bill Parcells coaching tree. Goodyear has its Proctor & Gamble marketing tree. The Akron tiremaker dipped back into the P&G pond by selecting R. Scott Rogers as the new chief marketing officer for its North American Tire unit. Goodyear said it is a new position.
Rogers, 39, will oversee all aspects of advertising and marketing for the company’s consumer tyre business, including the Goodyear, Dunlop and Kelly brands. HE comes to Goodyear after serving as senior vice president of marketing and sales for Norwegian Cruise Lines, and a number of marketing posts with P&G.
Former P&G marketer Cathryn Fischer was hired by Goodyear in 2001 to serve as vice president and chief marketing officer. She resigned two years later. In late 2007, Goodyear promoted Brett Ponton to the then new position of vice president of marketing for the North American consumer replacement business. (Tire Review/Akron)
The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Goodyear’s plans for an all-new headquarters complex is pressing ahead, but at a far slower pace than planned, victimized by the concurrent downturn in credit and automotive markets. Akron Developer Stuart Lichter, who plans to buy Goodyear’s current headquarters facilities and convert them to retail and office space while building an new headquarters complex for the tyre maker, is being hamstrung by “an unprecedented meltdown of the credit markets,” according to the newspaper. Lichter told the newspaper that the city of Akron and county officials are working on bridge financing to make up shortfalls and keep the project moving forward. There was nothing to indicate that the deal might fall apart. “Anyone who’s shocked that this developer can’t get financing has been asleep for the last six months to a year,” Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic was quoted as saying.
The Plain Dealer said that the Summit County Port Authority “hopes to issue bonds by June 1, making Lichter’s purchase possible without the aid of banks or other private sources. Lichter would personally guarantee the bonds, with Akron and Summit County backing him up. He would repay the debt, with interest, using rent from Goodyear, which will lease back its buildings after the property sale. After three years, Lichter would pay off the remaining debt or refinance using other money sources.” (Tire Review/Akron)
Goodyear Tire & Rubber has appointed R. Scott Rogers to the position of chief marketing officer for the company’s North American Tire (NAT) consumer business. In this newly created role, Rogers will oversee all aspects of advertising and marketing for the company’s consumer tyre business, including the Goodyear, Dunlop and Kelly brands.
Before joining Goodyear, Rogers, 39, served as senior vice president of marketing and sales for Norwegian Cruise Line since 2005. Prior to that, he held a number of positions for The Procter & Gamble Company between 1992 and 2005.
An expedition of Land Rover enthusiasts, supported by Goodyear, has completed its mission to travel 6,500 miles for a range of charitable causes across Africa. The team set out from Goodyear’s Birmingham head office, as reported on Tyrepress.com in early January, and finished in Timbuktu having donated their vehicles, along with educational and medical supplies, to good causes along the way. The charities included Sightsavers International in the Gambia and Mali, Operafrica in the Gambia and Village by village and Sabre Charitable trust in Ghana. In total eight vehicles were donated to help the charities conduct their work.
Goodyear supplied the vehicles with the brand’s market leading 4×4 tyres, the Wrangler MT/R. For such a dynamic range of terrain from roads and gravel to deserts and flood plains, the vehicles really needed high performing tyres for their journey. Having been used previously on the Land Rover G4 Challenge, the Wrangler’s ability to traverse the toughest of terrains with its reinforced side walls and aggressive shoulder blocks gave the required performance in the vast range of conditions the team encountered.
The Goodyear plant in Union City, Tennessee is reducing its operating schedule from a seven-day continuous operation to five days. The impact of the operation change on the plant’s workforce has yet to be determined, according to Jimmy Cagle, manager of communications at the plant. The 40-year-old plant, which employs 2,700, is already facing a loss of about 60 jobs this year. (Tire Review/Akron)
New from Goodyear in 2009 is the Wrangler AT/SA, a tyre for 4×4 drivers seeking mobility both on and off the road. The Wrangler AT/SA has been released onto the market following extensive testing on the company’s on and off-road test facilities – tests that Goodyear says show the new tyre to outperform its major competitors and its predecessor in both wet braking and wet handling tests.
Durability on rough surfaces comes courtesy of a generous serving of Kevlar. Two layers of the five-times stronger than steel material are built into the tyre in addition to the its two high-tensile steel belts; the main benefit the layers offer, says Goodyear, is improved resistance to punctures in the tread – however Kevlar layers also act as a sound barrier, absorbing noise for an especially quiet ride. This combination of strength and silence is part of what the manufacturer calls its ‘SilentArmor Technology’, a proprietary innovation first introduced on Goodyear 4×4 some four years ago.
Goodyear’s North American truck tyre line-up has received a boost with the introduction of the Wrangler DuraTrac, a tyre the manufacturer says comes with new features that make it ideal for a broad range of work applications, from construction and farming to landscaping and mining. And just to prove the new tyre is not just all work and no play, Goodyear adds that it also delivers the performance pickup truck owners are looking for when they clock out and hit the trails to partake in wholesome all-American recreational activities such as camping, fishing and hunting.
The USW approved an agreement with Goodyear that would put the tyremaker’s Danville plant on eight-hour work shifts, five days a week, and offer 200 buyouts to qualified employees. Over 400 Goodyear employees will be losing their jobs between buyouts and layoffs, a Goodyear spokesperson said. More than 2,400 people work at the plant, which is Danville’s largest employer. According to a letter to employees, the truck side of the plant will be realigned to three eight-hour shifts, five days a week. Currently, the plant operates seven days a week, 24 hours per day, on 12-hour shifts.
In addition, the furlough that had been postponed from 21-28 February has been rescheduled to 21-28 March. There will be another furlough 3-9 August. The new operating schedule will start when employees return to work after the March furlough. The earliest layoffs will not be effective until March 23. Employees who want the buyout package – which offers $2,000 per year, up to $40,000, to employees between the ages of 53 and 55 with at least 28 years of service at the plant – must apply by 5 March. Salaried employees are not eligible for buyouts, but salaried positions will be cut, company officials said. Those employees will be eligible for the Supplemental Compensation Benefit Plan. Salaried position cuts will be announced by 20 March. (Tire Review/Akron)
Market analysts at Keybanc and Goldman Sachs have downgraded their stock ratings for Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear Tire to “underweight” and “sell” respectively. Goldman Sachs reduced the stock from “Neutral” to “Sell” noting the company’s fortunes are linked to the success or otherwise of the Detroit carmakers. Goldman predicted analysts’ estimates for 2009 would also have to be cut. Meanwhile a Keybanc analysts listed the headwinds Goodyear is facing: “Lower volume globally, unabsorbed overheads, raw material costs that will substantially exceed price/mix in the first half of 2009, but should turn positive in the second half, significantly higher pension costs; foreign exchange working against the company, and disruptions associated with capacity reductions are all challenges Goodyear Tire faces this year.” The bank revised its earning per share estimate to a loss of $0.50. “For 2010 our initial estimate is a profit of $0.85. We have low confidence in both estimates and both exclude what will be very large restructuring/plant closing and severance expenses,” Keybanc concluded, noting that these estimates are likely to change during the course of the year.
In the US Goodyear has released its first off-road tyre containing DuPont’s Kevlar. The para-aramid fibre is used in the sidewall area of its new Wrangler MT/R range for enhanced puncture resistance. The utilisation of Kevlar, a material that is, pound-for-pound, five times stronger than steel, brings improved sidewall cut- and puncture-resistance to an area of the tyre that demands extra toughness when driving off-road – it also helps reinforce the sidewall in case of any kerbside incidents on the drive home.
“The new Wrangler MT/R with Kevlar updates the legendary off-road performing namesake, which has had a great reputation among serious off-roaders,” said Melissa Montisano, Goodyear’s general manager for light-truck tyres. “This new tyre will certainly get the attention of anyone who takes off-road traction seriously.”
More than a year ago, Goodyear reached an agreement with the city of Akron, the state of Ohio and California developer IRG to build its headquarters near the current one, rather than re-locate elsewhere. The plan was on track until the end of 2008, when a credit squeeze halted IRG’s financing. Though the project is still in limbo, Goodyear has said it still plans to move forward.
“All the parties involved are still extremely confident and extremely committed to the program, but because of the credit crisis it has certainly slowed the progress of finalizing the agreement,” Goodyear spokesman Scott Bachman said. The agreement included 30 million dollars in state tax breaks for Goodyear that are contingent upon it maintaining an employment level of at least 2,900 in Akron – just 200 less than the tyre maker currently employs there.
Due to a downturn in demand for tyres, Goodyear recently announced it would cut nearly 7 per cent of its global workforce of about 75,000, but would not name specific facilities that would see job losses. (Tire Review/Akron)
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