Goodyear Archives - Page 216 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 Tyres Top The Country Music Charts

Country music fans will doubtless be singing along to Brad Paisley’s latest CD unprepared for Goodyear tyres being the subject of one of the tracks on “Mud on the Tires”. The fifth track on the fast-selling CD, the song, “That’s Love,” carries these lyrics: “If she cooks all day / You’d better eat it with a smile / Doesn’t matter if it tastes just like bad gravy on a Goodyear tire / Yea, yea, yea, alright, so you bend the truth…” Since Brad Paisley mentions Goodyear in one of his songs, radio listeners in targeted markets were given opportunities to win a set of Goodyear tyres when they heard his songs,” explained Bob Toth, marketing manager of Goodyear auto tyres.

14th August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

US Court Rejects Tyre Monitoring System Regulation

In the USA, a panel of three federal judges has rejected a proposed tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) as it allowed too great a margin for error. TPMS was made compulsory in new cars following the Ford Explorer/Firestone tyre episode. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was ordered to come up with a TPMS for cars and it offered two systems – one which required a sensor on all four tyres (direct system) and one which used existing technology systems, such as ABS, to estimate pressure (indirect system). Consumer groups claimed that the second system was not effective all the time, and thus did not meet the law’s requirements, and the judges agreed, ordering the NHTSA to formulate a new rule.

13th August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Two Piece Tyre

Goodyear’s Two Piece assembly is not a tyre. Goodyear is initially offering the Two Piece Assembly in a 45R57 size for large haulage trucks. Insiders at Goodyear are quick to clarify that its newest product is not a tyre. “It’s a multifaceted assembly meant to solve many of mining’s challenges,” said Tom Walker, general manager of off-the-road tyres. “It offers many benefits such as reduced downtime from tyre changeovers, higher payload capabilities, improved traction, handling, stability and ride on haul trucks, not to mention increased productivity and cost per ton savings.”

“I would compare it to buying a stereo,” said Perry Martenny, team leader for off-the-road tyre programs. “You can buy a stereo as an all-in-one unit or buy it a piece at a time. Think of the Two Piece Assembly as a component system.” Like the name suggests, the Two Piece Assembly consists of two separate but vital pieces. The assembly consists of a casing and a treadbelt package. The two pieces have corresponding grooves that interlock during assembly. Once assembled, the two pieces are held together by the air pressure in the inflated assembly.

7th August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Q2 Net Loss For Goodyear, But Sales Rise

Goodyear’s second quarter (Q2) figures reveal that the company lost $73.6 million, compared to a net income in Q2 last year of $28.9 m. Sales were up nearly 8 per cent at $3.8 billion (3.5 bn), but volumes were down half a million units to 52.8 million pieces. Chairman and CEO Robert J. Keegan described the results as „disappointing“, but said he was encouraged by the „numerous positive trends„ (notably operations outside North America) and he was „optimistic“ about the turnaround plans.

1st August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear/Steelworkers To Resume Talks

Goodyear is to resume talks with the United Steelworkers of America next week in Cincinnati, concerning a master contract agreement, covering some 16,000 associates at 14 facilities. Talks have been stalled since the USWA rejected a company proposal in June.

1st August 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

New Goodyear OTR Tyre For Mines

In the USA, Goodyear has introduced a new OTR tyre, aimed at mining applications, size 45R57. The tyre is made in two pieces, with a casing and tread belt package that lock together and which are held together by air pressure. The tread belt package is replaceable and, should part of the tyre become damaged, replacement can be made in a fraction of the time needed for a conventional tyre.

30th July 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Stapletons shifts alliance to Fit4Fleet as AA eschews the independents

STS Stapletons Tyres and Exhausts has joined Fit4Fleet, giving the company access to a national account facility. This is a boost to Fit4Fleet and perhaps gives an insight into the relationship between AA Tyrefit and Stapletons, founders of Tyreserve, which later became AA Tyrefit.The move puts Stapletons back in the running in terms of serving the fleet customers and also serves to boost Fit4Fleet, bringing their membership to 850 operational centres and some 350 mobiles.Fit4Fleet’s Dominic Bateson told T&A, “We are delighted to have Stapletons on board. The company has excellent coverage backed by excellent brand availability through its wholesale operation. Stapleton’s is also very experienced in fleet work and understands the demanding nature of the clients and has suitably strong operational controls. These are characteristics that are very important when dealing with the fleet customers.”This move is explained by strategic developments at AA Tyrefit, formerly the Stapletons’ originated Tyreserve.Says David Goodyear of AA Tyrefit, “The traditional fast-fit centre is a thing of the past and tyre networks that maintain them simply do not have the right structure to survive in the future. We aim to offer the flexibility, pricing and service that the tyre customer rightly expects.”Goodyear cites research by AA Tyrefit that suggests just four per cent of customers using a mobile service would return to a fast fit outlet.”The service advantage is so strong,” argues Goodyear, “that the biggest hurdle we face is the fact that people expect there to be a premium for mobile fitting. There isn’t. Our mobile fitting is free.”Such is the confidence in building the mobile service that AA Tyrefit has eschewed the independent networks completely. David Goodyear explains, “We can provide the entire service capacity we need from within our mobile resources. The need for the independent network has passed, although we are still maintaining relationships with those outlets that offer mobile tyre fitting to provide back-up to our own units.”In further moves to hit its target of becoming the largest tyre distributor in the UK by 2007 (David Goodyear, T&A April 2003 p 37) the company has further developed its mobile fleet, which has now reached a total of 70 mobiles with a further 200 to be commissioned by the year-end, rising to 500 units by 2005.

8th July 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Mercedes Contract For Thai Goodyear Plant

Goodyear (Thailand) Ltd. has been granted the contract to be the exclusive supplier of high performance tyres to Mercedes for the Asean countries. Around 15,000 tyres will be supplied monthly from August, when the contract begins – any specific tyre sizes not made by the Thai company will be sourced from Goodyear plants in other Asean countries. The contract is part of Mercedes-Benz’s plans to simplify procurement.

30th June 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear/Union Talks Break Down

The three-month-old talks in the USA between Goodyear and the United Steelworkers of America to try and thrash out a new labour contract have collapsed. The USWA rejected proposals from Goodyear and remains resolutely opposed to plant closures and job losses. The ending of the talks, allied to the fact that no further talks have been scheduled, brings the spectre of a strike at Goodyear’s US plants that little bit closer.

30th June 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

America’s Top 50 Automotive Suppliers

OE manufacturer readers of the magazine “Automotive Industries” have voted for their top suppliers. More than 1,000 replied and a list of the “Ai Fab Fifty” has been compiled. Tyre manufacturers in the list are Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., Goodyear and Michelin North America Inc. Other companies which will be familiar to our readers include Continental Teves, Hayes Lemmerz and ArvinMeritor Inc. Of the companies mentioned, ArvinMeritor was the only one to make the top ten list.

27th June 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Eagle F1 Scores Well In Survey

Goodyear’s Eagle F1 GS D3 performance radial has performed well in a survey of customers conducted by US mail order company Tire Rack. The tyre scored 9.4 out of 10 in the “repurchase” category, compared to the next highest score of 8.6. Tire Rack also tested the tyres against Michelin and Bridgestone in both wet and dry conditions and found that, although dry performance was comparable, the Goodyear tyre achieved the best lap times in the wet.

25th June 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Jury Finds Goodyear Liable For Faulty Hoses

A jury in Denver has found Goodyear Tire & Rubber liable for $4 million for defective rubber hoses used in home heating systems. A bankrupt heating systems designer – Chiles Power Supply – was found equally responsible. It was alleged that Goodyear’s Entran II hoses (now discontinued) deteriorated and leaked, causing flooding and damage and the jury found in favour of 34 homeowners. Goodyear intends to appeal the decision.

25th June 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Airline Tyre Contracts For Goodyear

At the Paris Air Show, Goodyear has announced three major contracts for bias-ply aircraft tyres. These are FedEx Corp’s 350+ jet fleet, ExpressJet Holdings (200 aircraft) and American Airlines’ 362 Boeing MD-80 jets. Despite these, Goodyear is convinced that the future lies in radial aircraft tyres, as they are more cost-effective. Russian carrier Aeroflot has chosen Goodyear radials for its new fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft.

17th June 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Sinclair to Lead Goodyear Global Communications

Charles L. (Chuck) Sinclair has been named senior vice president, global communications of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, reporting to president and chief executive officer Robert J. Keegan. Sinclair will be responsible for leading Goodyear’s global team of communications professionals in the execution of a communications strategy and providing counsel to senior leadership on issues impacting the company. Sinclair replaces Robert J. O’Leary, who has been named as senior vice president, public relations, community and government affairs of Goodyear customer Sears, Roebuck and Company.

11th June 2003/by Tyrepress Editors

Survey shows popularity of mobile fitting

AA Tyre Fit carried out a survey of 50 randomly chosen drivers who had used the company’s mobile tyre fitting service within the previous 60 days. 21 of the respondents were fleet customers, the remainder retail.86 per cent said they would use mobile fitting in preference to visiting a fast-fit centre, while four per cent preferred the latter. The reasons given for preferring mobile fitting were “more convenient” and “it allows me to make more efficient use of my time”. Location of mobile fitting was split almost equally between home, office and roadside.The findings came as no surprise to AA Tyre Fit General Manager David Goodyear, who said: “Customers have a perception of fast-fit centres as dirty and unpleasant places where they can spend an hour or more hanging around while their new tyres, which are nearly always a distress purchase, are fitted.

11th June 2003/by Tyrepress Editors