'The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company' was founded in 1898 by
Frank Seiberling. Today it is the third largest
tire company in the world after
Bridgestone and
Michelin. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, race cars, airplanes, and heavy machinery. In addition it makes rubber hoses, shoe soles, and parts for electric printers. The company has also been extensively involved in the aerospace, military, and hardware technology industries.
Although the company was not connected with him, it was named in honor of
Charles Goodyear. Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber in 1839. The first Goodyear Tires became popular because they were easily detachable and low maintenance.
Goodyear is famous throughout the world because of the
Goodyear blimp. The blimp came from Goodyear's attempts to enter the Aircraft and Aerospace industries after
World War II. Today it is one of the most recognizable advertising icons in America.
Goodyear blimp
History
Early History 1898-1926
The first Goodyear factory opened in Akron Ohio in 1898. The thirteen original employees manufactured bicycle and carriage tires, rubber horseshoe pads, and poker chips. The company grew with the advent of the automobile.
In 1901 Frank Seiberling provided Henry Ford with racing tires. By 1908 Ford was outfitting his Model T with Goodyear tires. A year later Goodyear manufactured its first aircraft tire.
In 1911 Goodyear started experimenting with airship design. It later manufactured airships and balloons for the U.S. military during World War I. The transport and reconnaissance capabilities that Goodyear provided contributed significantly to the Allied victory.
By 1926 Goodyear was the largest rubber company in the world. Only four years earlier they were forced to temporarily cease race tire production due to competition. Nevertheless, the popularity of the Goodyear tire on the racing circuit led to a popular demand for the brand.
Expansion 1926-1990
For the next sixty years Goodyear grew to become a
multinational corporation with multi-billion dollar earnings. It acquired their rival Kelly-Springfield Tire in 1935. During
World War II Goodyear manufactured
Corsair fighter planes for the U.S. Military. By 1956 they owned and operated a nuclear processing plant in Ohio.
Sales for 1969 topped $3 billion, five years later sales topped $5 billion and it boasted operations in thirty four countries. In
1978 the original Akron plant was converted into a Technical Center for research and design. By 1985 worldwide sales exceeded $10 billion dollars.
Goodyear's crown jewel was the
Goodyear Aerospace Corporation, a holding that developed from the Goodyear Aircraft Company after
World War II. In
1979 they designed a supercomputer for NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center, the
MPP. The subsidiary was sold in
1987 to the
Loral Corp. as a result of restructuring.
The Goldsmith affair
In 1986 The Goodyear Rubber & Tire Company was a victim of a
Greenmail attack. British financier
Sir James Goldsmith in conjunction with the investment group
Hanson purchased 11% of Goodyear stock. They threatened to take the company over unless Goodyear bought back the shares at a highly inflated price.
The following year Goodyear retaliated with a massive restructuring. The company sold subsidiaries, closed plants, and tried to damage itself financially to make it an unsuitable takeover target. The plan worked and Sir Goldsmith reportedly walked away with $90 million for his efforts.
1990 to Present
The last major restructuring of the company took place in
1991. Goodyear hired
Stanley Gault, former CFO of
Rubbermaid inc, to expand the company into new markets. The moves resulted in 12,000 employees being laid off.
Recent History
On
October 5,
2006 the
United Steelworkers Union voted to strike at a Goodyear plant in
Kansas. The strike was called over a dispute about higher health care costs and the closing of a non-unionised plant in Texas. The strike lasted until
January 2,
2007, and cost the company approximately $358 million. The
US Army briefly considered invoking a clause in
Taft-Hartley Act to force the employees back to work.
Humvee tires are produced at the Kansas plant and there was concern that the strike would create a shortage had it continued longer than it did.
Timeline
★ 1898 — ''Goodyear Founded''
★ 1901 — ''
Seiberling makes racing tires for
Henry Ford''
★ 1908 — ''Ford's
Model T is outfitted with Goodyear tires''
★ 1909 — ''1st aircraft tire''
★ 1911 — ''1st
airship envelope''
★ 1917 — ''made airships & balloons for the U.S. military during
World War I''
★ 1919 — ''tires on the winning car at the
Indianapolis 500''
★ 1925 — ''first blimp, ''Pilgrim'' is launched
★ 1926 — ''world's largest rubber company''
★ 1935 — ''acquired Kelly-Springfield Tire''
★ 1956 — ''Goodyear-operated U235 atomic processing plant opens in
Ohio''
★ 1958 — ''enters racing to counter "stodgy" image''
★ 1967 — ''Goodyear introduces the
Polyglas tire, one of the first wide-tread bias-belted fiberglass tires, which along with similar tires from competitors such as the Firestone Wide-Oval would become regular equipment on 1970 to 1974 models, which would be superseded by radial tires beginning in 1975.''
★ 1969 — ''Stock splits two for one''
★ 1974 — ''sales reach $5 billion''
★ 1978 — ''Akron plant converted into Technical Center for R&D''
★ 1984 — ''worldwide sales exceed $10 billion''
★ 1986 — ''
Sir James Goldsmith takeover attempt''
★ 1987 — ''massive restructuring''
★ 1987 — ''completion of the California - Texas "All American" oil pipeline''
★ 1994 — ''"electronic store" opened on the
CompuServe network''
★ 1999 — ''Goodyear
Dunlop enters joint venture with Sumitomo Rubber''
★ 2006 — ''end of car tire production in the UK, closure of the Washington plant''
★ 2007 — ''Sale of the Engineered Products Division to the Carlyle Group; EPD is renamed
Veyance Technologies''
Corporate Structure and Leadership
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is structured into the following units:
★ 'Asia Pacific Region'
★
★ Pierre E. Cohade, President
★ 'Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa Business'
★
★ Jarro F. Kaplan, President
★ 'European Union Business'
★
★ Arthur de Bok, President
★ 'Latin American Region'
★
★ Eduardo A. Fortunato, President
★ 'North American Tire'
★
★ Richard J. Kramer, President
Current members of the
board of directors of Goodyear are:
James C. Boland,
John G. Breen,
Gary D. Forsee,
William J. Hudson Jr.,
Steven A. Minter,
Denise M. Morrison,
Rodney O'Neal,
Shirley D. Peterson,
G. Craig Sullivan,
Thomas H. Weidemeyer,
Michael R. Wessel,
W. Alan McCollough, and
Robert J. Keegan (chairman).
Robert J. Keegan is also the
chief executive officer of the company (since 2002), succeeding
Samir G. Gibara.
Subsidiaries
★
Dunlop Tyres
★
The Kelly Springfield Tire Company
★ Fierce
★ Lee
★
Sava Tyres (''Slovenia'')
★ Fulda (''Germany'')
★ Debica (''Poland'')
Corporate Issues
No Firearms Policy
Recently customers have noticed a "no firearms allowed" sign posted on the entrance doors to all Goodyear stores. The official response from the company is as follows:
: ''In an effort to ensure the safety and security of our associates and customers, we have a clear company policy regarding weapons in the workplace. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. prohibits all persons who enter Company property from carrying a handgun, firearm, or prohibited weapon of any kind onto the property regardless of whether the person is licensed to carry the weapon or not. Exceptions apply to on-duty law enforcement personnel. This policy applies to all Company employees, visitors, customers, and contractors on Company property -- including our Company-owned stores. All Company properties have received a decal or sign referencing this policy, and have been instructed to post it.''
The policy also restricts off-duty officers of the law from carrying a firearm into the store as well.
Environmental record
Researchers at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst identified Goodyear as the 25th-largest corporate producer of
air pollution in the United States, with roughly 4.16 million lbs of toxins released into the air annually. Major pollutants included
sulfuric acid,
cobalt compounds, and
chlorine.
[1] The
Center for Public Integrity reports the Goodyear has been named as a potentially responsible party in at least 54 of the nation's
Superfund toxic waste sites.
[2]
Goodyear Brands
Automotive
★ Assurance (''cars & minivan'')
★
★ TripleTred Technology
★
★ ComforTred Technology
★ Fortera (''suv'')
★
★ Silent Armor Technology
★
★ TripleTred Technology
★ Wrangler (''truck'')
★
★ Silent Armor Technology
★
★ ProGrade Technology
★
★
★ Heavy Duty
★ Eagle (''performance'')
★
★ Response Edge
★
★
★ Carbon Fiber Technology
Commercial
★ Commercial Truck
★
★ Fuel Max
★
★ Duraseal
★ Off The Road Tires
★
★ Articulated Dump Truck
★
★ Rigid Haulage Truck
★
★ Mobile Crane
★
★ Scaper
★
★ Port & Container Handling
★
★ Dozer and Loader
★
★ Mine Service
★
★ Motor Grader
★ ATV Tires
★
★ Rawhide Camo
★
★ Rawhide MT/R
★ RV Tires
★
★ Unisteel series (''G670RV, G149RSA, G169RSA, G647RSS, G614RST'')
★
★ Wrangler HT (''all weather'')
★
★ Marathon (''trailer towing'')
★ Aviation
Non-Tire Industrial
★ Airsprings
★ Industrial hose
★ Hydraulic products
★ Conveyor belt products
★ Power transmission products
★ Molded Transportation products (''vibration control'')
★ Rubber Track
See also
★
List of tire companies
People
★
Charles Goodyear
★
Frank Seiberling
Other related topics
★
Goodyear Blimp
★
Goodyear Inflatoplane
★
Goodyear Aerospace
★
Tyres in Formula One
★
BFGoodrich
★
Bridgestone
★
Continental Tire
★
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company (US company purchased
Avon)
★
Firestone
★
Kumho Tires
★
Hankook
★
Michelin
★
Nokian Renkaat
★
Pirelli
★
Toyo Tire
★
Uniroyal
★
Yokohama Tire
References
1. Political Economy Research Institute Toxic 100 retrieved 14 Aug 2007
2. Center For Public Integrity Superfund Project retrieved 14 Aug 2007
Trivia
★ In the Japanese anime, Yu Yu Hakusho, the brand of tire is called "Bad Year"
★ In '', Frank Drebin remarks "It’s the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day". Jane Spencer then asks "Goodyear?", to which Frank responds "No, the worst".
★ In the Disney/Pixar movie ''Cars'' Lightning McQueen runs on "Lightyear" tires, an obvious reference to Goodyear's long-standing relationship as the sole tire supplier for NASCAR; there's even a Lightyear blimp.
★ Goodyear supposedly developed custom tires for the Batmobile for use in one of the recent ''Batman'' movies. The tires featured the Batman logo as a tread pattern.
Further reading
★ Richard Korman. ''The Goodyear Story: An Inventor's Obsession and the Struggle for a Rubber Monopoly'' (2002)
★ Ronald P. Conlin; "Goodyear Advertising Research: Past, Present and Future" Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 34, 1994
External links
★
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Homepage
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