Goodyear Archives - Page 211 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 majors with Volvo

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has announced that it has reached global supply agreements to become a major tyre supplier to the Volvo Group in Europe and Brazil. Last month, Goodyear was named standard equipment tyre supplier for the Volvo Group’s Volvo and Mack truck operations in North America. Goodyear, with the three-year contracts, will now be a key supplier to the Volvo Group’s three major truck brands – Mack, Renault and Volvo – on three continents. “Reaching this global agreement with a world-class customer such as Volvo is a major accomplishment and a testament to Goodyear’s product quality, technology and customer service – not only on one continent, but on three,” said Robert J. Keegan, Goodyear’s chairman and chief executive officer.

19th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Stephanie Bergeron to retire

Stephanie Bergeron (50), senior vice president, corporate financial operations for Goodyear, is to retire, effective December 31st 2003, to pursue other interests. Observers had thought that she would succeed Robert Tieken, Goodyear’s CFO, who turns 65 in May next year. According to Tieken, Bergeron has done an “outstanding job”. No successor for her post will be necassry, according to Goodyear.

18th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear wins further Volvo contracts

Goodyear has won global agreements to supply OE tyres to the Volvo Group in Europe and Brazil, following the recent award of a North American supply contract. The three-year contracts mean that Goodyear will be a key supplier to Volvo’s three major truck brands – Mack, Renault and Volvo. The tyres will be produced at Goodyear’s factories in Danville (Kansas), Colmar Berg (Luxembourg), Wittlich (Germany), Kranj (Slovenia) and Sao Paulo (Brazil).

18th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Freightliner LLC Selects Goodyear as Standard Supplier

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announces that Freightliner LLC, North America’s largest manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks, has named Goodyear as its standard tyre supplier. Officials of Goodyear and Freightliner recently signed the agreement, and Freightliner has begun communicating this decision to its network of truck dealers. “Being awarded new business is a testament to what Goodyear offers, in terms of products, service and a network of commercial outlets. And having a customer like Freightliner choose Goodyear to be its standard tyre supplier really makes us proud,” said Steve McClellan, Goodyear’s vice president of commercial tyre systems. Goodyear is supplying a variety of truck tyres for Freightliner LLC’s various commercial vehicle needs. This includes supply to the company’s commercial vehicle brands Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star, American LaFrance and Thomas Built Buses.

16th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

S&P may cut Goodyear’s ratings deeper

Standard & Poor’s has said it may cut its rating on Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. deeper into junk territory, following the company’s announcement on Wednesday of possible accounting problems in Europe. “The announcement raises potential accounting concerns in a Goodyear operation that has been seen as solidly profitable,” S&P credit analyst Martin King said in a release. “Ratings could be lowered if the investigation results in material accounting adjustments, leading to substantial financial reporting delays, or has a negative impact on the company’s prospective liquidity and access to capital,” he said. S&P said it may cut Akron, Ohio-based Goodyear’s corporate credit rating of “BB-minus”, its third-highest junk rating.

12th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Andreas Niegsch: “Our brands are our greatest asset”

It has been an eventful – some might say traumatic – year or two for the Goodyear Corporation as it struggled to integrate Dunlop within its organisation across Europe and the USA. One of the countries that has seen a great deal of change is the UK, where a number of different methods of restructuring have been tried, with varying levels of success. Recent changes affected the management at the highest level – Goodyear and Dunlop had their own MD’s, reporting to Marco Molinari, who was in overall control. When Molinari left the company, it was decided to change the management structure and responsibilities. Out went the two separate MD posts and a General Manager was brought in.

That person was Andreas Niegsch, a 39-year-old German who only joined Dunlop in 1998. One year on, the structure is in place and beginning to produce results and Andreas Niegsch found the time to give his first press interview, with T&A. Where Andreas Niegsch’s position differs from that of his predecessors is that he is responsible purely for the sales organisation at Goodyear Dunlop and the UK factories report to Goodyear Dunlop Europe. By not being responsible for manufacturing, Andreas Niegsch is free to concentrate on sales and in getting closer to the market and the customer.

The new structure has separate sales divisions for consumer, commercial, farm, earthmover, motorcycle and motorsports tyres and these are supported by functions such as HR, logistics and finance. Retail is treated as a separate profit centre and a new marketing department has been created to support all the product groups. Given enough time, things will turn around, said Andreas Niegsch, as the company has the funds and has bought itself the time to implement the necessary changes. However, whatever else changes, he believes that Goodyear Dunlop still has those two priceless assets; two brands that are worth their weight in gold.

12th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

More accounting troubles at Goodyear

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has revealed that its accounting troubles are ongoing. Goodyear said after the close of regular stock trading that an internal investigation has identified possible improper accounting issues in Europe. The company said an amended filing it expected to submit to the Securities and Exchange Commission detailing its finances will be delayed until next year so that it can complete a review of its accounting. The United Steelworkers of America (USWA) announced today it will closely monitor the circumstances surrounding Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s announcement that it will be necessary to delay the filing of its 2002 Form 10-K/A with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “We are hopeful that the problems in Europe are not significant,” stated USWA International vice president Andrew V. Palm. “We expect that the company will quickly resolve this situation and move on to complete their financing commitments in the near future.”

11th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre stocks skyrocket in India

The stocks prices of tyre companies have gone skyrocketed in the last few months following the auto boom. Share prices of tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres increased from Rs 193.00 to Rs 259.85, Ceat appreciated from Rs 44.85 to Rs 63.85 and JK Industries moved up from Rs 38.90 to Rs 86.20. Vikrant Tyre gained from Rs 18.05 to Rs 75.30, Falcon Tyres increased from Rs 23.80 to Rs 26.75 and Goodyear Industries appreciated from Rs 33.70 to Rs 50.30. Govind Rubber gained from Rs 8.49 to Rs 16.32, MRF jumped from Rs 1418.45 to Rs 2097.35, while Premier Tyre increased from Rs 9.15 to Rs 12.38 and Krypton Industries appreciated from Rs 11.21 to Rs 18.00. Making local tyres available at fair prices would emerge as the key factor to Indian rubber goods manufactures taking advantage of the auto boom.

11th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

SEMA Show 2003 in Las Vegas

Approximately 90,000 visitors were expected to the 37th SEMA exhibition in Las Vegas according to organiser Specialty Equipment Market Association, without exception specialised public. The annual fair, that usually takes place in November, is comparable with the German Automechanika. For the past decade the tyre sector has been a very important part of the Show. All the tyre manufacturers with interest in the American tyre market are present in Las Vegas. Visitors however shouldn’t expect the presentation of groundbreaking new products. On the contrary: Las Vegas is a suitable place, at which business relations between customers and suppliers can be established or deepened. Despite all the economic difficulties the world’s gambling capital, in the desert of Nevada, is booming. And “9/11” seems to have passed this city without trace, a city which still builds one fancy hotel next to another. The Hilton hotel in Las Vegas it is adjacent to the fairground, once the largest hotel in the world with approximately 3,500 rooms, is nowadays less significant. Others have 4,000, 5,000 or even more rooms. Reportedly a hotel with 8,000 rooms is to be built shortly. At present the city waits for the opening of another luxury hotel, which is to dominate not only by size, but also by luxury. The opening is due in two years. To be on the safe side, the planned French name for the hotel was axed, because it is feared that too many patriotic Americans would avoid such a hotel, after the Gauls dared not to take part in the Iraqi war.

The tyre exhibition in Las Vegas is surely still a meeting of trade specialists. One enters the halls, looks to the left and to the right into the vast array of different exhibition booths. Nevertheless, any visitor has toured every booth within a short time. Although tyre manufacturers such as Bridgestone, Goodyear, Michelin, Cooper, Pirelli, Hankook, Kumho, Yokohama and others are present, the important decisions are not taken at the show. The pricipal discussions take place in the hotels. There the life pulsates. There the receptions take place. There, tyre dealers are invited to meet with their suppliers to specify commercial objectives for the coming year. The large tyre manufacturers not only offer product, but also various kinds of marketing and sales promotion programs. It is the tyre manufacturers aim to bring partners into line in order to improve their new tyre business by at least 50 per cent.

10th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Corvette Racing switches to Michelin

For the second time in two weeks, Michelin has announced that a major racing team will switch to its tyres. The announcement that three-time GTS class-winning Corvette Racing will switch from Goodyear to Michelin racing slicks in the American Le Mans Series follows the confirmation that Formula One team BAR-Honda will run on Michelin rubber in 2004. The No. 3 and No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C5-Rs will begin Michelin tire tests this week in preparation for the nine-race ALMS schedule and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Michelin-shod teams took the top ten positions and won all four classes at the world-famous endurance race in 2003, which also marked the company’s sixth consecutive overall win.

10th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin has seized the opportunity in North America

Times have changed dramatically in the North American tyre industry. Nowadays there is no such thing as a one-brand dealer. The seemingly inexorable way to ever more private brands ceased with Firestone’s tyre recall. Now tyres have penetrated more than before into the consciousness of the consumers. One expected a “flight to quality”, which is a little misleading, because the house brands manufactured by large tyre companies do not have quality deficiency. The hoped for trend is directed to brands, toward brand image, and on brand contents. With this we arrive automatically at Michelin. No tyre manufacturer, in economically good as well as bad times, did as much for the structure of its tire brand as Michelin. Michelin was not the inventor of the steel-belted radial tyre, but the French tyre maker marketed it world-wide with a persistence which is worth admiration. There is no alternative to the steel-belted radial tyre. The French did not invent the multi-brand strategy, either. But they filled this operation with content and brought it into the market in such a way that an alternative was impossible. Nevertheless, Michelin puts its stamp on the markets of this world and in particular on the American market in a completely unmistakable form when it comes to multi-brand strategy.

Las Vegas is for Michelin a good and important meeting place, but the events and meetings outside of the fair hold themselves within clearly smaller frameworks than, for example, those of Bridgestone/Firestone. Michelin has attained clear advantages in the last three years in the American market. Was Michelin now the winner, or were Bridgestone (Firestone recall) and Goodyear (continuous large company losses) only the losers? One would underestimate the French if one would attribute their advances only to the weaknesses of the competitors. Anyone who analyses the American market can come to the conclusion, that the French would have asserted themselves in any case, although perhaps not as quickly. Anyhow, in North America they do ride on a wave of success, although this market has not yet recovered completely from the dramatic break-downs of “9/11”.

10th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear: Nobody knows what the future has in store

Because of the continuing market weakness and on-going high losses in North America, Goodyear’s situation in “Bob” Keegan’s 25 months as COO and president and in the 11 months as CEO remains extremely serious and worrying. Unlike competitors such as Michelin, Goodyear could not even increase market share by capitalising on the Firestone disaster.

Even worse: Bridgestone, with Firestone – a tyre brand that many predicted would not survive the crisis – is back on the road and advancing strongly. Cooper, during the third quarter 2003, added around almost ten per cent, while Goodyear could increase sales by only approximately four per cent, while the total market grew by more than six per cent. Also Goodyear’s figures continue to be under pressure, because the sporadic price increases could not compensate for past rises in raw material prices, margins remained lower than expected and the fixed costs “moved in the wrong direction” despite all restructuring measures, says Rod Lache, Analyst at the Deutsche Bank in New York.

Also the sales development in North America is not satisfactory: in 2002 Goodyear sold eight million tyres fewer in the US market compared with the year before, and in 2003 everything points to a further sales reduction of more than two million tyres. This is a clear sign of continuing acceptance problems on the market. Following this it is no surprise that analysts still do not recognise any signs of a turnaround in the recently submitted business figures for the first nine months of this year and that the visible trends give further reasons for concern regarding the future of the company.

Talking to Tyres & Accessories, Bob Keegan was still optimistic. It cannot be denied that fewer tyres than before have been sold. The biggest challenge is to generate growth in the highest market segment. This is the goal of the strategy “How Do We Win” with its seven quintessential points and its personnel policy that has already been explained to analysts in the early summer. Keegan: “I took a few good decisions concerning executive positions in order to be able to realise the necessary changes. My goal was not merely one of only bringing in outsiders. In all areas of the company we have a good mixture of old and newly-hired, high-level personnel. Jon Rich, who has to bear the load of the turnaround, has the same pattern of thinking as me.” Keegan was convinced that he has now brought together the correct executive team. “Managers who led the company into the crisis, are not necessarily the right staff to lead it out again. We needed a change of course, in order to be able to win. I feel very comfortable with the people, who now carry this responsibility along with me.”

10th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear OE on Fleetwood RVs

In the USA, Fleetwood RV and Goodyear have announced that Goodyear tyres will be fitted as OE on Fleetwood’s range of recreational vehicles. Goodyear makes a range of tyres specially for RVs, for 19.5“ and 22.5“ rims. The announcement was made at the 41st RVIA show and a seminar was organised to inform Fleetwood dealers on the range and benefits of Goodyear RV tyres.

5th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Quality award for Goodyear Philippines

Goodyear Philippines Inc. has been recommended to receive the latest global quality certification standard, ISO/TS 16949:2002. The standard specifies quality system requirements for design, development, production and installation of automotive-related products. Goodyear Philippines is the first of the company’s factories in the ASEAN region to achieve the new standard.

5th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear blimp grounded after accident

The Spirit of America, one of three Goodyear airships operating in North America, has been involved in a minor accident. On Wednesday, the blimp broke loose from its moorings while landing at its base in Carson, California and drifted for 300 yards before crashing into a compost pile. There were no serious injuries and Goodyear says it is too early to say how bad is the damage, or how long the Spirit of America will be out of commission.

5th December 2003/by Tyrepress Editors