Goodyear Archives - Page 208 of 243 - Tyrepress

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.

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Goodyear Dunlop to purchase Swedish retail chain

Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe has strengthened its position in Scandinavia with an agreement to buy the outstanding shares of one of Sweden’s major retail tyre groups, Däckia. The company expects to complete the purchase of the chain by the end of June. Goodyear Dunlop currently owns 50 per cent of the shares with the remaining being primarily owned by Procuritas (26%) and Däckia management (24%). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Däckia has more than 60 company owned stores, as well as 31 contract partners in cities throughout Sweden, with annual sales revenue of approximately $65 million. Däckia is widely regarded as one of the most successful tyre retailers in the Nordic Region.

19th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear To Close Nebraska Warehouse

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will close a warehouse and distribution centre in Lincoln, Nebraska by the end of the year, eliminating about 160 jobs. Goodyear spokesman Skip Scherer said the closure was to improve customer service and has nothing to do with the recent announcement that Goodyear will reduce its reported profit for the past six years by an additional $65 million because of improper accounting.

15th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

11th Director For Goodyear

Shirley D. Peterson (62) has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. She is the 11th member of the board, 10 of whom are independent. Peterson spent 20 years as an attorney then, in 1989, was appointed Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1992 she was appointed Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service by President George Bush. In 1995, Peterson was named president of Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. Goodyear’s chairman and CEO Robert Keegan praised Peterson’s record in business, government and academia, saying: “She will make important contributions to our board.”

14th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

UK Police Pick Goodyear Dunlop

Goodyear Dunlop has been chosen as tyre supplier to UK police forces for the next three years. Goodyear first secured the contract in 1994 and the new deal means that around 100,000 Goodyear and Dunlop tyres will be fitted to police cars, vans and motorbikes for each of the next three years.

13th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Net Income Reduced

Goodyear has said that its net income figure for the past six years will be reduced by $65 million, due to improper accounting and other reasons. The improper accounting figure – most of it in Europe, and for which several senior managers have been disciplined – comes to $10 million and the remaining $55 million is attributed to workers’ compensation claims, product liability, profit elimination in inventory and other items.

13th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

The 4×4 tyre market: still growing

Back in 1990 or thereabouts Pirelli had just bought Armstrong and were busy launching their own 4×4 range and relaunching the Armstrong Tredloc Kevlar belted tyre for the 4×4 market.

The motoring press was busy telling the world that the 4×4 sector had peaked and would be on the decline by the following year. So much for the crystal ball gazing of the motoring press.

Today the 4×4 sector holds some 5 per cent of the UK market share – it may seem more as most 4×4 vehicles have a longer shelf life that their conventional counterparts, so probably hold a slightly larger share of the overall car parc. It would be interesting to know what the DVLA figures would be on that enquiry.

Throughout Europe there is no let up in the demand for 4×4 vehicles – even in markets where an off-road excursion could find the driver in serious trouble with the law. The 4×4 has developed from a serious tool for the military and agricultural sectors to a plaything and fashion symbol for the wealthy and the aspirational. Figures from Goodyear show that the utility sector of the market, the pick up and hard core 4×4 enthusiast has hardly shown any movement over the past four years, nor is it expected to in the coming years. The value market has dropped to a steady level at 90,000 units per year across Europe, the middle market too is stable. However, the luxury and crossover sectors of the SUV market are starting to show tremendous growth with the luxury sector doubling its volume from the 2000 figure of 101,000 units by 2007 whilst crossover vehicles will quadruple their volume in the same period it is these two sectors almost alone that will take the 4×4/SUV market from its current 706,000 units per annum to 840,000 units per annum by 2007.

In tyre terms this reads as growth in every sector – winter, S and T, and H and V rated, the market volume jumping from a total of 2,089,000 units in 1997 to 7,885,000 in 2007.

The two largest markets in Europe for 4×4 tyres are the UK and Germany, followed by Spain, Italy and France each having in excess of 10 per cent of the market. Scandinavia, Benelux, Switzerland, Greece, Portugal and Austria each have shares between 2 and 7 per cent of the market. With the whole of Eastern Europe taking only 4 per cent of the sector.

That 4 per cent for Eastern Europe suggests that, as with other sectors of the tyre market, the developing markets in Eastern Europe offer a phenomenal capacity for growth in this sector. In fact, if the move to car ownership in the East matches that ion the west, then the ultimate volume of the market could make Goodyear’s figures appear conservative.

8th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear launches HydraGrip

Goodyear has introduced HydraGrip, a new high performance summer tyre, specially developed for rainy and wet weather conditions. With its innovative DynamicDrain TRED technology HydraGrip provides unrivalled wet braking and aquaplaning safety without compromising its performance on dry roads.

Goodyear customer research has shown that in Europe safety is the primary concern of drivers of medium and large high performance and family vehicles, especially in rain and wet weather. No matter where you drive in Europe, you are facing a lot of rain: according to the yearly weather statistics it rains in Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Warsaw and Stockholm three out of five days, even cities like Athens, Madrid and Rome have almost 100 rainy days per year. European drivers across the continent have to drive an average of 141 days per year on wet roads. “Accidents happen especially when it starts raining after a dry period – a situation that demands high performance both from tyres and drivers. Therefore it is no surprise that 70 per cent of European drivers want tyres that behave particularly well on wet roads,” explained Paul Joosten, marketing director Goodyear brands Europe, Middle East and Africa in Mireval, when launching the HydraGrip. “Our goal was to develop a tyre that provides optimal safety in the quickly changing European summer weather with its alternate heavy rainfall and dry periods. After millions of tested kilometres and three years of development at Goodyear‘s Research and Development Centres in Colmar Berg, Luxembourg, we now proudly introduce a tyre that sets new standards for high performance summer tyres,” added Joosten.

Thanks to its unique DynamicDrain TRED technology HydraGrip provides excellent side grip and lateral stability, coupled with an unrivalled performance in emergency braking and resistance to aquaplaning. “HydraGrip gives drivers the all around performance and safety that they demand in extreme wet conditions,” said Joosten.

The new DynamicDrain TRED technology is a combination of highly sophisticated technology features such as 3D-BIS technology, cascade blading and V-TRED design with a specially developed high performance tread compound. In Detail: Goodyear‘s patented Three Dimensional Block Interlocking System (3D-BIS), well-known from successful Goodyear winter tyres, significantly improves the tyre’s wet and dry handling performance because it allows an increased number of blades in the tyre compared with traditional bladed tyres. This technology equips the tyre with as many biting edges as possible to provide excellent behaviour in aquaplaning and on wet roads while at the same time preserving the precise and dynamic handling characteristics of a high performance tyre with its stiff solid tread blocks. HydraGrip‘s 3D-BIS technology also increases the blade length with worn tyres and therefore improves the tyre‘s wet performance during the whole tyre life.

8th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear To Buy Remainder of Sava

In June, Goodyear will exercise its option to acquire the remaining 20 per cent of Slovenian tyre manufacturer Sava for approximately US$ 52 million. Goodyear originally purchased 60 per cent of Sava in 1988, acquiring another 20 per cent four years later. So far Goodyear has invested in excess of US$ 100 million in modernisation. Last year, the Sava factory at Kranj produced over seven million tyres for cars, light trucks and commercial vehicles. More than 80 per cent of these were exported, to 70 countries.

7th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Signs 10 year Agreement with IBM

Goodyear Dunlop Tires has announced a 10-year Business Transformation Outsourcing programme worth an estimated 50 million Euros in cost savings in two years. The agreement to partner with IBM on a procurement-to-payment program for indirect supplies represents another step in the company’s effort to reduce costs by 1.5 billion US dollars by the end of 2005. Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe will retain its core purchasing competencies, the activities of between 50 and 80 Goodyear Dunlop employees will be transferred to IBM, on a phased basis.

1st April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Keegan joins SRI board

Robert J. Keegan, chairman and chief executive officer of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, has been elected to the board of directors of Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. in Kobe, Japan. Goodyear and Sumitomo Rubber Industries have six joint venture businesses in North America, Europe and Japan. In addition, each company holds common stock in the other.

1st April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear achieves further quality certification

IBS America, Inc., one of the world’s leading suppliers of Internet-based software and services for quality and compliance management, has announced that the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s East Europe, Africa and Middle East business unit has gained full regional certification for quality, safety and environmental standards using its QSi System. The global standards organisation Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQi) issued the multi-site certification for Goodyear EEAME’s regional headquarters in Brussels and six manufacturing facilities located in Turkey, Slovenia, Poland, Morocco and South Africa. Each of these locations is fully compliant with critical business standards including ISO/TS 16949:2002, ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001, Adapazari (Turkey), South Africa, Poland and Slovenia. ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, Izmit (Turkey) and Morocco.

1st April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear develops new synthetic rubbers

Goodyear says it has developed new synthetic rubber products, which could cut its current spend on natural rubber by 15 per cent over the next three years. The company has been working on the project for some time, but extra impetus was provided by the recent steep rises in natural rubber prices. The new products are already being utilised in production.

31st March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear fined by OSHA

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has been fined 274,050 dollars for unsafe conditions at its Akron powerhouse after an employee was buried in coal up to his neck while cleaning a coal bunker in September. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said on Tuesday that it had issued six serious and four wilful citations to Goodyear for violating worker-safety procedures. A Goodyear official said the company has taken steps to improve worker training to avoid accidents. The company has also made unspecified physical changes to the powerhouse.

26th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Outplaced Goodyear workers out of work

Some 100 white-collar workers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. whose jobs were outplaced to a sub contractor may not have their jobs much longer. Some will be out of work as soon as April 30, and others will follow them until most are gone by 2006. The workers at the sub contractor, Affiliated Computer Services Inc. of Dallas (ACS), were told they would keep their same pay, vacation, years of service and other benefits. Last month, Goodyear announced it was transferring 100 jobs in Akron to ACS under a 10-year agreement. Goodyear said it expected the move to save it 45 million dollars.

26th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Delays Business Report’s Release

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. on Tuesday again said it needed more time to finish a financial report for federal regulators because of its probe of accounting problems at overseas operations. The company said after the markets closed that it would tell the Securities and Exchange Commission that its annual 10-K report will be delayed because of the investigation of accounting problems in Europe and elsewhere. Goodyear shares plunged more than 5.6 percent, or 44 cents, in extended trading Tuesday, after closing at 7.84 dollars, up 26 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange. However, after-hours trade climbed on the news of the delay, rising 3.5 per cent to 8.12 dollars on INET.

17th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors