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 Goodyear here.
With sales of all-season tyres being one of the good news stories of an otherwise challenging year, at the end of November Auto Express published its latest test comparing the performance of leading year-round tyres. Continental’s AllSeasonContact was the outright winner, but Goodyear’s Vector 4Seasons Gen-3 and Hankook Kinergy 4S2 were not far behind it in second and third place respectively.
It has been nearly two years since the Goodyear brand’s reintroduction to motorsport in Europe, and it is fair to say that operating in a pandemic was not part of the plan when this brand strategy was set out. Tyres & Accessories spoke to Ben Crawley, Goodyear motorsport director EMEA, about his experiences of the 2020 season. Goodyear re-entered European motorsport almost two years ago. While the brand on a global level has “never really been out of motorsport,” bearing in mind its six continuous decades of NASCAR in the USA, Crawley tells T&A that the thinking behind Goodyear’s reentry in more global series “fits into a wider brand rejuvenation” strategy. “We know we have this fantastic legacy and history in racing, and we want to be able to use that to reengage and provide some excitement for the brand and how we communicate the brand with consumers.” The motorsport strategy also coincided with Goodyear’s introduction of ultra-ultra-high performance (UUHP) Eagle F1 Supersport tyres, and “the natural synergies that come with high performance tyres for the road and racing.” Beyond the new product range, the “brand rejuvenation strategy includes the Blimp, racing, and broader advertising and marketing partnerships,” Crawley adds. Subscribers can view the video of this interview in the full version of this article.
The winning combination of Kamaz-Master and Goodyear will return to the Dakar next month. Goodyear continues in its position as official tyre supplier to the Kamaz-Master team, with Goodyear ORD again the tyre of choice for the 2021 event. Kamaz-Master’s trucks are now on their way to Saudi Arabia, where they will arrive in good time for the start of the 43rd edition of this rally-marathon on 3 January.
Goodyear has launched an enhanced version of its eJob automated fleet inspection tool. From a fleet perspective, eJob offers full transparency of all maintenance and fleet inspections carried out, visible within seconds of job submission, from anywhere in Europe. The application is designed to support Goodyear FleetOnlineSolutions (FOS). According to the company, the new advanced platform provides fleets and tyre dealers managing fleets full overview including all vehicles, their location, applied tyre policy and agreed terms as well as warranty.
Piotr Czyzyk has been appointed managing director for Goodyear South Africa. Czyzyk has served Goodyear in a number of roles and markets for the past 17 years, most recently as PBU commercial director in Europe. There Czyzyk was responsible for overseeing the Central Europe operation, garnering keen insights into the global market, consumer behavior, as well as the shifting dynamics of demand and supply.
In August Goodyear unveiled the treaded tyre it will supply to the new Pure ETCR electric touring car championship when it gets underway next year, and since then has benefitted from technical feedback supplied by series promoter Eurosport Events and the technical department at WSC Group. Working with this feedback, Goodyear has finalised the specification of the specially-developed Eagle F1 SuperSport race tyre.
Following what was generally regarded as an insightful presentation on the impact of coronavirus on global, European and UK tyre markets, the panel for our “New Tyres in Corona-World” Virtual Tyre Industry Conference 2020 session (James Ward, senior insight manager, GfK; Andrea Manenti, VP north region, Bridgestone; and Pravesh Amtha, Sales General Manager Consumer UK&I, Goodyear) moved into a discussion relating to how manufacturers are working on creatively supporting the tyre trade in the face of the second lockdown and ongoing pandemic- and economy-related complications.
Approximately 100 jobs will be cut at the Goodyear tyre factory in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg under plans to relocate production of low-volume tyre lines to other Goodyear plants in Europe that have the required capacity and resources for the job. It appears the tyre maker intends to complete this restructuring process within the coming 12 to 18 months.
Following changes to the names of the Goodyear-Dunlop national organizations in the UK and Belgium, the tyre manufacturer’s Poland-based company has now also been renamed, our colleagues at our German sister website Reifenpress.de have reported.
Goodyear has reportedly entered the automotive lubricants segment in India. Goodyear is collaborating with Assurance International, a part of Satya Group, in the venture which focuses on a new line of engine oils that are designed to complement Goodyear’s tyre product portfolio. According to local news sources, the product line includes “greases, brake fluid, transmission oil, tractor oil, diesel exhaust fluid, gear oil and hydraulic oils”.
5 November saw the inaugural virtual Tyre Industry Conference, with Tyres & Accessories bringing the traditional annual conference into the virtual arena due to Covid-19 restrictions. Produced in association with the NTDA and supported by Cam Systems, our expert panel was comprised of James Ward, senior insight manager, GfK; Andrea Manenti, VP north region, Bridgestone; and Pravesh Amtha, sales general manager Consumer UK&I, Goodyear. The wide-ranging 45-minute conversation covered a lot of bases, but the first session, which was designed to focus on the new tyre market’s recent trends and statistics began with a presentation from James Ward.
Ford honoured tyre manufacturers Goodyear and Maxxis as part of its 22nd annual World Excellence Awards. The wards span multiple categories, including sustainability, winning portfolio, propulsion choices, autonomous technology, fitness, special recognition and diversity.
Automated trucking company TuSimple plans for its vehicles to begin hauling freight in completely driverless operations from next year on selected routes in the USA. It has chosen Goodyear Tire & Rubber to provide tyres and tyre management solutions to this Autonomous Freight Network (AFN).
Goodyear’s Off-The-Road division has launched a new radial EV-3G tyre intended for industrial applications such as airports, in and around ports and intermodal platforms. The tyre maker says it developed this latest product to provide optimal handling on aircraft tractors, automated guided vehicles, shuttle sprinter carriers, reach stackers, container handlers and other industrial vehicles.
Clément Marin
Goodyear
Goodyear
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Goodyear