NASCAR has honoured Goodyear’s Rich Kramer with the Bill France Award of Excellence in recognition of his leadership and contributions to the motorsport series as chief executive and president of Goodyear. Jim France, chairman and chief executive officer of NASCAR, presented Kramer with the accolade during the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Awards on 30 November.
It’s solar superlative time. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company reports having completed its largest solar panel installation to date. More than 29,700 solar panels now sit upon the rooftop of the tyre maker’s Pulandian factory site in Dalian, China, as well as on adjoining warehouse and office buildings – equipment that Goodyear says will reduce carbon emissions from purchased electricity by 17,000 tonnes annually over 25 years.
A new collaboration between The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and California-based bioengineering firm Visolis will lead to the production of isoprene through the upcycling of biobased materials. This collaboration, which Goodyear announced yesterday, is supported by a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant awarded to Visolis earlier this year.
This year will be the first time the Dunlop and Avon brands share exhibition space at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, following The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s acquisition of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company in 2021. While Dunlop is scheduled to “showcase its strongest range yet,” Avon will “focus on key designs” with a range that “still offers” its “most popular products” alongside the Dunlop portfolio.
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has validated Goodyear’s near-term and net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets. SBTi evaluated the tyre maker’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 near-term target ambition and determined this to be “in line with a trajectory of limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.” The SBTi team also evaluated the Scope 1, 2 and 3 long-term target ambition and considers this aligned with its 1.5°C mitigation pathways for reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company estimates that fire damage to its manufacturing facility in Dębica, Poland will reduce sales by up to US$40 million and lower operating income by as much as $30 million. After resuming production two days after the blaze of 20 August 2023, production has slowly risen from around 55% of capacity to approximately 70% by the end of September. Goodyear does not expect a full ramp-up of production until Q4 2024 due to the lead time to replace damaged equipment.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is 125 years old today, and although this quasquicentennial anniversary year hasn’t been without turbulence, the tyre maker is looking back on a century and a quarter of rich history. It all began for Goodyear on 29 August 1898, with the first tyres coming several months later.
Darkness descended upon The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s former headquarters almost a decade ago. At any rate the illuminated sign atop the building ceased functioning, and this is something that Goodyear and a partner have rectified in the runup to the tyre maker’s 125 anniversary.
TireHub is now five years old and says it is looking forward to future growth. The US-based national tyre distributor, which was co-founded by Bridgestone & Goodyear, now operates 80 TireHub Logistics Centers and will add more to the network in the coming months, and TireHub also plans to open its first regional distribution centre later this year.
The open letter that Elliott Investment Management L.P. sent to The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company on 11 May 2023 was met with a promise to review the shareholder’s recommendations, which included the initiation of an operational review and the appointment of “five new highly qualified independent directors.” While Goodyear hasn’t met this wish list in its entirety, today the company announced three additions to its Board of Directors in connection with a cooperation agreement with Elliott.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has released its report on corporate responsibility performance for 2022, a document that details the company’s efforts to create value for its internal and external stakeholders by integrating sustainability throughout its business. The report also highlights the progress Goodyear is making toward achieving its short- and long-term sustainability goals.
In its letter to the Goodyear Board, Elliott Investment Management L.P. requests engagement on Board Enhancement, monetising Goodyear’s retail platform, and forming an Operational Review Committee. At the receiving end of Elliott’s open letter are Goodyear CEO Rich Kramer and the current board of directors. The declaration that “we believe Elliott’s strength is in catalysing change” can be read as a promise to dissatisfied Goodyear shareholders and a threat to the leadership team.
Elliott Investment Management’s letter to Richard Kramer and members of the Goodyear Board of Directors contains the reassurance that it does not seek “any reductions in plant capacity or factory workforce.” Comforting words perhaps for members of the 74,000-strong Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company team engaged in production within the company’s 57 factories, but office-based employees have less reason to breathe easy.
Some 18 months after establishing a partnership with Monolith, Goodyear is launching a tyre containing the pyrolysis specialist’s carbon black. Owners of electric vehicles in North America can now fit the Goodyear ElectricDrive GT, a size 235/40R19 all-season tyre. This is the first tyre to feature this type of carbon black produced by Monolith.
Ryan Waldron will lead The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s consumer business in the North America region. Formerly vice president of Goodyear Global Off-Highway, Waldron will assume the role of president, Goodyear North America Consumer.
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