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.
Goodyear has signed a three-year deal to become title sponsor and tyre supplier to the British Truck Racing Championship (BTRC). The partnership has evolved following Goodyear’s positive involvement with the European truck racing championship (ETRC).
Goodyear is offering a new guarantee of 100 per cent acceptance of casings, with no visual defects, within Goodyear’s Customer Own Casing (COC) scheme. According to the tyre manufacturer, the new campaign will help fleet operators to reduce their Total Cost of Ownership while providing peace of mind at the same time.
Goodyear has renewed its tyre supply agreement with logistics service provider Ewals Cargo Care, extending a relationship that is more than 20 years old. The pan-European contract covers the supply of tyres for up to 3,000 trailers and 550 tractors as well as a full range of truck tyre support services under the Goodyear FleetFirst banner.
Goodyear is confident that on-demand transportation has a bright future, and at this year’s Geneva Motor Show it has presented its concept of what tyres for autonomous electric urban ride-sharing vehicles may look like.
Following on from the release of new summer UHP products for its Fulda and Sava brands, Goodyear has introduced a UHP tyre range for its Poland-based brand, Dębica. The tyre maker states that the new Presto UHP2 offers greater mileage than the previous-generation tyre thanks to the use of a ‘Uniform Contact Pressure’ design, which distributes pressure over the whole tread contact area and thus spreads wear more evenly. Rolling resistance has also improved through the use of an optimised rolling resistance chafer that controls energy dissipation via the tyre’s rim.
Another first from Goodyear – following on from the Eagle 360 concept tyre presented a year ago, at this year’s Geneva Motor Show the tyre maker has revealed what it says is the first concept tyre to be powered by artificial intelligence and capable of sensing, deciding, transforming and interacting.
Under new legislation, motorists who have had their licences for less than two years will be banned if they use their device just once and penalties for all drivers caught using their handset in the car are doubling. However, research from Goodyear Tyres UK has shockingly revealed that almost a quarter (23 per cent) of motorists said the risk of being prosecuted would not affect their mobile phone use behind the wheel.
A new Fulda summer ultra-high performance tyre, the SportControl 2, is now available, and Goodyear says this latest generation product provides “enhanced performance on wet and dry roads.” The tyre maker also speaks of “high quality German technology at a wallet-friendly price” that doesn’t compromise on performance.
The Carson airship base, which Goodyear opened in 1968 to house members of its blimp fleet, is to receive major upgrades in order to accommodate the arrival of a new-generation Goodyear blimp at the site later this year. At the centre of this upgrade programme is a new hangar, the first in Carson. The inflatable hangar will be built out of 73 miles of partially translucent polyester fabric and will be almost nine-stories tall and longer than a football field.
ETRMA Europool figures show that the market for ultra-high performance tyres has grown steadily over the past five years, and in 2015 these products accounted for 18 per cent of all aftermarket summer tyre sales in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. Goodyear aims to cover demand for UHP tyres here in the upper budget segment with a new range from its Sava brand, the Intensa UHP 2.
Goodyear reports that its Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 has been approved as an original equipment fitment for the Porsche Panamera. The accreditation covers a size 265/45ZR19 (105Y) XL front axle tyre and a 295/40ZR19 (108Y) XL fitment on the rear. The tyres will carry the ‘N0’ designation on the sidewall to denote their approval by Porsche as original equipment tyres.
The economically-teetering country of Venezuela was a recurring theme in Goodyear Tire & Rubber’s 2016 financial report. The tyre maker’s deconsolidation of its subsidiary in that country drove down both sales and unit volumes for the year, however the measure had a more favourable impact upon Goodyear’s bottom line.
Last year, Goodyear’s ServiceLine24h roadside assistance service responded to almost 58,000 incidents in 31 countries. The tyre maker notes that the number of vehicles it managed was significantly higher than the previous year, however it was able to maintain an average turnaround time of 123 minutes. The majority of incidents were handled by the more than 2,000 TruckForce service providers across Europe.
Despite leading the event for several stages and successfully battling terrible conditions, Team De Rooy had to settle for third and fourth places in the truck category of the 2017 Dakar. Driving Iveco Powerstar 4X4s equipped with standard Goodyear ORD tyres, Dutchman Gerard De Rooy in truck #500 and Argentinian Federico Villagra in truck #502 covered 5,300 miles of the challenging terrain, finishing close behind the two Russian Kamaz trucks. The remaining two Team De Rooy trucks finished 16th and 17th out of the 50 trucks that entered.
Mobile device users can now access Goodyear’s web-based eCasing commercial vehicle tyre retreading management system. A new app, eCasing Mobile, is being progressively introduced throughout Europe and supports all Goodyear retread business options. Available in Android and iOS versions, the app is a further enhancement of Goodyear’s eBusiness B2B platform, myway. While accreditation from Goodyear is required to use the free app, all existing eCasing users automatically receive immediate access.
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