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.
(Akron/Tire Review) In 1958 Craig Anderson sold his first set of Goodyear Double Eagles while working at his uncle’s tyre store in New York state. Now, after 40-plus years in the tyre and rubber industry, Craig has stepped down as president and chief executive officer of Hercules Tire & Rubber Co.
Sensor Products LLC has produced a “next generation” tyre tread footprint profiling system, which is already in use by manufacturers like Kumho. Capable of thousands of uses with consistent repeatability, the Tactilus is reportedly able to detect a wider range of pressures and offers greater advantages to engineers than its predecessor in the areas of adaptability and customisation.
Goodyear is aiming to increase its market share in Finland by achieving a 10 per cent sales growth target. According to Deutsche Bank analysts the manufacturer aims to do this by focusing on distribution and becoming the second or third strongest player in the country (behind Michelin and Continental), compared with its current number four position.
(Akron/Tire Review) Fred Heigold has been named vice president of business operations and integration for Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s North American Consumer Tire Business unit. Heigold will report to Larry Mason, president of the unit. Most recently, Heigold was CEO of Phogenix Imaging, a joint venture of Eastman Kodak and Hewlett Packard. He began his career with Eastman Kodak in 1971, and served in various research and development, manufacturing and general management positions, including several international assignments.
Goodyear Dunlop is planning a “significant investment programme” for its Hi-Q chain, managing director Dick Johnson has revealed. “The Hi-Q network is an asset and the majority of stores will remain under Goodyear Dunlop ownership. We are going to invest in people, training, marketing and systems and develop a new franchise programme that will complement our company owned stores to create a strong nationwide network,” he explained.
Bridgestone, Goodyear and Michelin products all feature in Construction Equipment magazine’s ranking of 100 new construction related products. Goodyear’s DuraSeal commercial tyre technology was named editor’s choice in the ranking’s ancillary products division. Rod Sutton, editor in chief at the magazine, said editors considered about 700 product introductions before picking DuraSeal technology for the award.
Titan Tire Corporation, a subsidiary of Titan International, Inc, has reached a tentative agreement with United Steelworkers (USW) Local 745L on a new contract for workers at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s farm tyre manufacturing facility in Freeport, Illinois. The USW will schedule a ratification vote in the coming weeks. Titan Tire entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Goodyear’s North American farm tyre assets on 28 February 2005.
The Goodyear Tyre & Rubber Company, the first to implement Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology on a production scale, says RFID is the future for tyre identification in manufacturing, supply chain management and tyre/vehicle integration.
In late November, Goodyear’s RFID technology passed its first major real-life test when NASCAR used it for a Craftsman Truck Series race at Homestead – Miami Speedway in Florida.
According to a recent survey sponsored by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, almost two-thirds of drivers in the USA admit to fear of an accident while driving in bad weather conditions.
As a way of communicating the effectiveness of their Assurance and Fortera tyres with TripleTred Technology, consumer marketers at Goodyear were interested in finding out how people approach changing weather conditions, and the driving challenges that arise.
In the survey, more than half (53 per cent) of respondents said inclement weather has negatively affected their overall trip experience.
Goodyear unveiled a new farm tyre concept OPTITRAC R+ at Europe’s leading agricultural machinery exhibition, Agritechnica. The R+ is an extension of Goodyear’s OPTITRAC family, the one stop portfolio that meets the majority of farmer’s needs both on the field and the road. According to Goodyear the OPTITRAC R+ increases the performance level for tractor tyres significantly: the tyres can carry up to 31 per cent more load, generate 10 higher traction at lower tyre inflation and operate at speeds up to 65 km/h.
Continental is the leading player in the Bulgarian tyre market, with a 30 per cent market share, Bulgarian newspaper Dnevnik am has reported. According to Europool figures, total sales in Bulgaria will reach 1.1 million units this year. Goodyear is estimated to hold the second largest share with 25-27 per cent of the market, followed by Michelin with 18-23 per cent and Bridgestone-Firestone with 8-12 per cent. These figures do not include the local sales of Korean, Turkish and Russian tyre brands.
Goodyear’s North American Consumer Tire Business has named Brett Ponton to the position of vice president, Goodyear North American Consumer Retail. In this position, he will be responsible for all company-owned Goodyear retail stores in North America. Overall, Goodyear’s retail operations group is responsible for 763 company-owned tyre stores, 139 of them operated under the Just Tires retail format.
Driven by operating losses in all of its tyre units, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co finished the third quarter with a net loss of $1 million and sales that nudged just 1 per cent over last year’s results. Analysts described the company’s third quarter as “challenging” and warned that there are “more headwinds to come.”
For the quarter, Cooper posted sales of $558 million, up 1 per cent against the same period in 2004. The net loss, said Cooper, came as a result of lower unit sales, higher raw material costs, and “higher reported interest expense.”
(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co is expanding the Dunlop brand Direzza tyre line by launching two new Direzza race tyres and new sizes of the Direzza DZ101.
(Akron/Tire Review) Continental AG is considering the purchase of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co’s engineered products business. Conti CFO and Continental Tire North America President Alan Hippe told German media last week that such an acquisition would be a good fit. “We will look at that. That is for sure,” Hippe said. “But I have to state here that our major priority is to grow in automotive systems.
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