Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company

The first Goodyear factory opened in Akron, Ohio, in 1898. The company originally manufactured bicycle and carriage tires, rubber horseshoe pads, and poker chips, and grew with the advent of the automobile.[9]

In 1901, Goodyear founder Frank Seiberling provided Henry Ford with racing tires.[10] In 1903, Goodyear president, chairman and CEO Paul Weeks Litchfield was granted a patent for the first tubeless automobile tire.[11]

In 1916, Litchfield found land in the Phoenix area suitable for growing long-staple cotton, which was needed to reinforce its rubber in tires. The 36,000 acres purchased were controlled by the Southwest Cotton Company, formed with Litchfield as president. (This included land that would develop into the towns of Goodyear and Litchfield Park.)

In 1924, Litchfield forged a joint venture with the German Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Company to form the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation.[12] From the late 1920s to 1940, the company worked with Goodyear to build two Zeppelins in the United States. The partnership continued even when Zeppelin was under Nazi control and only ended after World War II began.[13]

Paul Litchfield, inventor of the tubeless car tire who promoted the Zeppelin partnership and later became Goodyear president and board chairman.

On August 5, 1927, Goodyear had its initial public offering and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.[14]

By 1930, Goodyear had pioneered what would later become known as "tundra tires" for smaller aircraft—their so-called low inflation pressure "airwheel" aviation wheel-rim/tire sets were initially available in sizes up to 46 inches (117 cm) in diameter.[15]

Over the next few decades, Goodyear grew to become a multinational corporation. It acquired their rival Kelly-Springfield Tire in 1935. During World War II Goodyear manufactured F4U Corsair fighter planes for the U.S. Military. Goodyear ranked 30th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.[16] WWII forced the dissolution of the Goodyear-Zeppelin partnership in December 1940. By 1956 they owned and operated a nuclear processing plant in Ohio.

In 1944, Goodyear created a subsidiary in Mexico in a joint venture with Compañía Hulera, S.A. de C.V., Compañía Hulera Goodyear-Oxo, S.A. de C.V. or Goodyear-Oxo.

Goodyear is the only one of the five biggest tire firms in 1970 to remain independent into the 21st century. Goodyear's success was partly due to the challenge posed by radial tire technology, and the varied responses.[17] At the time, the entire US tire industry produced the older bias-ply technology. Estimates to fit factories with new machinery and tools for making the new product were between $600 million and $900 million. This was a substantial amount in a low margin business with sales revenue in the low billions.[18] The US market was slowly shifting towards the radial tire, as had already been the case in Europe and Asia. In 1968, Consumer Reports, an influential American magazine, acknowledged the superiority of radial construction, which had been developed in 1946 by Michelin.[18][19]

When Charles J. Pilliod Jr. became CEO in 1974, he faced a major investment decision regarding the radial tire, which today has a market share of nearly 100%.[20] Despite heavy criticism at the time, Pilliod invested heavily in new factories and tooling to build the radial tire.[21] Sam Gibara, who headed Goodyear from 1996 to 2003, has noted that without the action of Pilliod, Goodyear "wouldn't be around today."[21]

Sales for 1969 topped $3 billion. Five years later sales topped $5 billion and Goodyear operated in 34 countries. In 1978, the original Akron plant was converted into a Technical Center for research and design. By 1985, worldwide sales exceeded $10 billion.

Goodyear Aerospace, a holding that developed from the Goodyear Aircraft Company after World War II, designed a supercomputer for NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center in 1979, the MPP. The subsidiary was sold in 1987 to the Loral Corporation as a result of restructuring.

In 1987, Goodyear formed a business partnership with Canadian tire retailer Fountain Tire.[22]

In the 1980s, incoming Goodyear CEO Robert E. Mercer argued that the tire and automobile-related businesses that formed the core of Goodyear to that date were slow growing and a handicap. He set a strategy "to get away from the cyclical nature of the automobile business through mergers or purchase of businesses unrelated to tires or vehicles."[23]

In 1983, Goodyear acquired the natural gas company Celeron Corporation in exchange for stock valued at more than $740 million.[23] It went on to invest heavily in gas exploration including the 1,200 mile crude oil "All American" pipeline from California to Texas. The project was initially estimated to cost $600 million[24] but ultimately cost almost $1 billion.[25]

In October 1986 British financier James Goldsmith in conjunction with the investment group Hanson purchased 11.5% of Goodyear's outstanding common stock.[26] This was viewed as a greenmail attack by some, and as shareholder activism by Goldsmith, who viewed the company's move into areas far removed from tire development production and sale as commercially ill-advised and wanted the company to divest, especially, its oil interests which he viewed as depressing the value of the company.[27]

On November 20, 1986, Goodyear acquired all of the stock held by Goldsmith's group (12,549,400 shares) at an above-market price of $49.50 per share.[28] Goodyear also made a tender offer for up to 40 million shares of its stock from other shareholders at $50 per share. The tender offer resulted in Goodyear buying 40,435,764 shares of stock in February 1987.

As a result of the stock buyback, Goodyear took a charge of $224.6 million associated with a massive restructuring plan. It sold its Goodyear Aerospace business to Loral Corporation for $588 million and its motor wheel business to Lemmerz Inc. for $175 million.[29] Two subsidiaries involved in agricultural products, real estate development, and a resort hotel in Arizona were sold for $220.1 million. The company also sold the Celeron gas and oil corporation. In 1998, the All American Pipeline, Celeron Gathering, and Celeron Trading and Transportation were sold, largely completing what Goldsmith's hostile takeover had suggested good management should do. In the years following 1987, the company invested in its tire business. President Tom Barrett succeeded Chairman Robert Mercer in 1989, and began a process of modernizing and expanding Goodyear plants in cities like Lawton, Oklahoma, Napanee, Canada, Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and Scottsboro, Alabama.[30] In the 2000s, the move of business into low-wage countries, facilitated by GATT (which Goldsmith had warned government against, calling it "a policy to impoverish"[31]), resulted in plants across North America being shuttered, for instance Cumberland, Maryland; New Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Windsor, Vermont were closed.

Airless tire concept

The last major restructuring of the company took place in 1991. Goodyear hired Stanley Gault, former CEO of Rubbermaid, to expand the company into new markets.[32] The moves resulted in 12,000 employees being laid off.[33]

In 2005, Titan Tire purchased the farm tire business of Goodyear, and manufactures Goodyear agricultural tires under license.[34] This acquisition included the plant in Freeport, Illinois.[34]

In the summer of 2009, the company announced it would close its tire plant in the Philippines as part of a strategy to address uncompetitive manufacturing capacity globally by the end of the third quarter of that year.[35]

Goodyear announced plans to sell the assets of its Latin American off-road tire business to Titan Tire for $98.6 million, including the plant in Sao Paulo, Brazil and a licensing agreement that allows Titan to continue manufacturing under the Goodyear brand. This deal is similar to Titan's 2005 purchase of Goodyear's US farm tire assets.[36][37]

In 2011, more than 70 years after the dissolution of the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, it is announced that Goodyear will partner with Zeppelin again (the legacy company Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik) to build more zeppelins together.[38]

In 2018, Goodyear and Bridgestone announced the creation of TireHub, a joint wholesale distribution network across the United States.[39] At the same time, Goodyear also announced that it was ending its distribution relationship with American Tire Distributors, which used to be the largest tire wholesaler in the US.[40]

In 2018, Goodyear was ordered to pay $40.1 million to J. Walter Twidwell, who claimed he developed mesothelioma because of exposure to asbestos. After the trial, Goodyear asked the New York Supreme Court for a new trial. Goodyear attorney James Lynch said Goodyear did not receive proper consideration from the jury. Lynch said that the other side's attorneys engaged in character assassinations against expert witnesses. During closing remarks, the attorneys for Twidwell put up a slide with the heads of Goodyear's expert witnesses pasted onto "insulting caricatures."[41]

In December 2018, Goodyear ceased operations in Venezuela due a lack of materials and rising costs resulting from hyperinflation.[42]

In February 2021, Goodyear announced that it will acquire the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company for $2.5 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2021.[43][44]

Goodyear Tires advertisement, Syracuse Post-Standard, February 26, 1916

Source:[30]

• 1898: Goodyear founded
• 1899: Automobile tires added to the original product line of bicycle tires, carriage tires and horseshoe pads
• 1901: Seiberling makes racing tires for Henry Ford
• 1903: Paul Litchfield granted patent on first tubeless automobile tire (Litchfield would go on to become president of Goodyear-Zeppelin, then board chairman)
• 1908: Ford's Model T is outfitted with Goodyear tires
• 1909: First pneumatic aircraft tire
• 1911: First airship envelope
• 1912: Goodyear blimp first debuts
• 1917: Made airships and balloons for the U.S. military during World War I
• 1919: Tires on the winning car at the Indianapolis 500
• 1924: Zeppelin patents acquired, joint venture Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation formed with the German company
• 1925: Pilgrim is launched, the first commercial non-rigid airship to use helium
• 1926: World's largest rubber company, based on sales of $230,161,356
• 1927: Initial public offering[14]
• 1929: Construction of world's largest airship dock started in Akron
• 1929: Introduction of first-known example of low-pressure tundra tires for aviation, invented by Alvin J. Musselman as Goodyear "Airwheels"[45]
• 1935: Acquired Kelly-Springfield Tire
• 1937: First American-made synthetic rubber tire
• 1940: In December, Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation dissolved with WWII straining partnership[38]
• 1942: Awarded contract to build FG-series Corsair naval fighter planes
• 1944: Tire testing begins near San Angelo, Texas[30]
• 1947: First nylon tires developed
• 1949: First television advertising with sponsorship of "The Goodyear Review," hosted by Paul Whiteman
• 1954: First nationwide strike in company's history lasted 52 days
• 1956: Goodyear-operated U235 atomic processing plant opens in Ohio
• 1957: Goodyear Proving Grounds for tire testing, near San Angelo, Texas, is rebuilt[30]
• 1958: Production of foam-padded instrument panels begun for 1959 model cars
• 1962: Goodyear racing tires used on more winning stock and sports cars than any other brand
• 1963: Goodyear produces its one billionth tire
• 1965: Radial-ply tires made available in a full range of sizes to auto manufacturers
• 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: Sales reach $3 billion
• 1970: First tires on the moon (Apollo 14)
• 1974: Sales reach $5 billion
• 1975: All tires used in Indianapolis 500 supplied by Goodyear
• 1976: Chemical Division shipped first shatterproof polyester resin bottles
• 1977: Industry's first all-season tire (Tiempo) introduced
• 1978: Akron plant converted into Technical Center for R&D
• 1983: Three billionth tire produced
• 1984: Worldwide sales exceed $10 billion
• 1986: James Goldsmith takeover attempt and resulting restructuring
• 1987: Completion of the California - Texas "All American" oil pipeline
• 1991: Aquatred tire introduced
• 1992: Began selling tires at Sears stores[46]
• 1993: Opened first tire store in Beijing, China
• 1993: Inauguration of Dalian plant, China
• 1994: "electronic store" opened on CompuServe
• 1995: Worldwide sales exceed $13 billion
• 1995: Bought Polish Tire Company Dębica
• 1998: Sold the All American Pipeline and Celeron businesses
• 1999: Announced $1 billion global alliance with Japan's Sumitomo Rubber Industries, which had rights to the Dunlop Tire brand in much of the world, to establish six joint ventures in North America, Europe and Japan
• 2000: Formed an Internet-based purchasing alliance with five other rubber companies called RubberNetwork.com
• 2003: Quarterly dividend to shareholders eliminated
• 2004: Assurance TripleTred and ComforTred tires introduced
• 2005: North American farm tire operations sold to Titan Tire Corporation[47]
• 2006: Goodyear blimp made maiden voyage in China
• 2007: Engineered Products Division sold to Carlyle Group; EPD is renamed Veyance Technologies
• 2008: Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association trust (VEBA) approved by U.S. District Court, funded with $1 billion
• 2009: Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tire introduced in North America
• 2010: Plans announced to sell European and Latin American farm tire businesses
• 2011: After being dissolved during WWII, Goodyear and Zeppelin's legacy company partner again to build more airships together[38]
• 2013: New headquarters complex opens in Akron[48]
• 2015: Goodyear and Sumitomo announced that they would dissolve their worldwide partnership.[49]
• 2018: The company ranked 187th on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States companies by revenue marking its 24th year on the list
• 2020: The company unveiled a self-regenerating concept tire with artificial intelligence features that allow the tire treads to change according to the environment and climate.[50] The technology also uses sensors to learn from driver behavior. Information is sent to Goodyear's cloud servers where it is processed to build drivers' profiles, allowing predictions to be made based on drivers' data.[51]

• James A. Firestone.[52]
• Werner Geissler.[52]
• Peter S. Hellman.[52]
• Richard J. Kramer.[52]
• W. Alan McCollough.[52]
• John E. McGlade.[52]
• Roderick A. Palmore.[52]
• Stephanie Streeter.[52]
• Thomas H. Weidemeyer.[52]
• Michael R. Wessel.[52]
• Laurette T. Koellner[53]
• Thomas L. Williams [53]

Former Board members include Shirley D. Peterson, William J. Contay, James C. Boland and Rodney O'Neal. Richard Kramer is the chief executive officer and president of the company (since 2010), succeeding Robert J. Keegan.

• Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.
• Dunlop Tyres (North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand)
• The Kelly Springfield Tire Company (United States)
• Douglas Tires
• Fierce
• Lee
• Sava (Slovenia)
• Fulda (Germany)
• Dębica (Poland)
• Wingfoot Commercial Tire Systems, LLC
• Bluestreak (Indonesia)
• Regetta (Australia) Distributed by KMART
• LS2000 (Japan) Distributed by Goodyear Autocare
• Goodyear Auto Service Centers
• Goodyear Chemical
• Just Tires

Following the military coup in Indonesia in 1965, the Indonesian president Suharto encouraged Goodyear to return and offered rubber resources and political prisoners as labor. In an NBC special aired in 1967, reporter Ted Yates aired footage showing former Communist rubber union workers escorted at gunpoint to the rubber plantation.

Bad as things are in Indonesia, one positive fact is known. Indonesia has a fabulous potential wealth in natural resources and the New Order [the fascist regime headed by pro-U.S. General Suharto] wants it exploited. So they are returning the private properties expropriated by Sukarno's regime. Goodyear's Sumatran rubber empire is an example. It was seized [by the rubber workers] in retaliation for U.S. aggression in Vietnam in 1965. The rubber workers union was Communist-run, so after the coup many of them were killed or imprisoned. Some of the survivors, you see them here, still work the rubber – but this time as prisoners, and at gunpoint.[54]

United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg stated,

Lilly Ledbetter was a supervisor at Goodyear Tire and Rubber's plant in Gadsden, Alabama, from 1979 until her retirement in 1998. For most of those years, she worked as an area manager, a position largely occupied by men. Initially, Ledbetter's salary was in line with the salaries of men performing substantially similar work. Over time, however, her pay slipped in comparison to the pay of male area managers with equal or less seniority. By the end of 1997, Ledbetter was the only woman working as an area manager and the pay discrepancy between Ledbetter and her 15 male counterparts was stark: Ledbetter was paid $3,727 per month; the lowest paid male area manager received $4,286 per month, the highest paid, $5,236.[55]

Lilly Ledbetter sued Goodyear claiming she was paid less than men doing the same work. She won the suit and was awarded $360,000, the jury deciding that Goodyear had clearly engaged in discrimination. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court. In Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 550 U.S. ___ (2007), Justice Alito held for the five-justice majority that employers are protected from lawsuits over race or gender pay discrimination if the claims are based on decisions made by the employer 180 days ago or more. The United States Congress overturned this decision by passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 which was the first bill signed into law by President Obama.[56]

This was a case of statutory rather than constitutional interpretation. The plaintiff in this case, Lilly Ledbetter, characterized her situation as one where "disparate pay is received during the statutory limitations period, but is the result of intentionally discriminatory pay decisions that occurred outside the limitations period." In rejecting Ledbetter's appeal, the Supreme Court said that "she could have, and should have, sued" when the pay decisions were made, instead of waiting beyond the 180-day statutory charging period.

Justice Ginsburg dissented from the opinion of the Court,[55] joined by Justices Stevens, Souter, and Breyer. She argued against applying the 180-day limit to pay discrimination, because discrimination often occurs in small increments over large periods of time. Furthermore, the pay information of fellow workers is typically confidential and unavailable for comparison. Ginsburg argued that pay discrimination is inherently different from adverse actions, such as termination. Adverse actions are obvious, but small pay discrepancy is often difficult to recognize until more than 180 days of the pay change. Ginsburg argued that the broad remedial purpose of the statute was incompatible with the Court's "cramped" interpretation. Her dissent asserted that the employer had been, "Knowingly carrying past pay discrimination forward" during the 180-day charging period, and therefore could be held liable.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst identified Goodyear as the 19th-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.[57] The Center for Public Integrity reports that Goodyear has been named as a potentially responsible party in at least 54 of the nation's Superfund toxic waste sites. On February 8, 2008, Goodyear announced the launch of an environmentally friendly tire produced using a cornstarch-based material. The Goodyear Eagle LS2000 partially replaces the traditional carbon black and silica with filler materials derived from corn starch thanks to "BioTRED compounding technology". The new technology increases the tires "flexibility and resistance to energy loss", which extend the tires life-span and lessen the impact on the environment.[58] Similarly, Goodyear announced on April 22, 2008, that it had joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay Transport Partnership. The transport partnership is an attempt between the truck transportation industry and the EPA to reduce air pollution and greenhouse emissions as well as increase energy efficiency. The SmartWay partnership's tractors and trailers will use Goodyear's Fuel Max linehaul tires that increase fuel efficiency while reducing emissions. According to Goodyear and EPA officials "the fuel-efficient line-haul tires deliver up to 4% improved truck fuel economy, and when used with other SmartWay-qualified components, each 18- wheel tractor and trailer used in long-haul can produce savings of up to 4,000 gallons per year, or more than $11,000 annually."[59]

On February 24, 2015, Goodyear agreed to pay more than $16 million to settle Foreign Corrupt Practices Act "FCPA" charges that two of its African subsidiaries allegedly paid $3.2 million in bribes that generated $14,122,535 in illicit profits.[60] The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission "SEC" FCPA charges involved Goodyear subsidiaries in Kenya and Angola for allegedly paying bribes to government and private-sector workers in exchange for sales in each country.[61] According to the SEC because "Goodyear did not prevent or detect these improper payments because it failed to implement adequate FCPA compliance controls at its subsidiaries" and, for the Kenyan subsidiary, "because it failed to conduct adequate due diligence" prior to its acquisition. It was not alleged that Goodyear had any involvement with or knowledge of its subsidiaries' improper conduct.[62]

On August 18, 2020, WIBW, a local CBS-affiliate television station, reported that an internal PowerPoint slide on political attire from a Topeka, Kansas, training seminar was circulating on social media.[63] The leaked slide depicted a "zero tolerance" policy towards some political movements.[64] President Donald Trump called for a boycott of Goodyear tires the following day, as Trump campaign attire such as MAGA hats were among the banned products.[65] Goodyear responded via Twitter, stating "the visual in question was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate, nor was it part of a diversity training class".[66] Following release of the audio that went with the slide,[67] Goodyear admitted the slide was used at its Topeka factory.[68]

Wrangler DuraTrac

Goodyear NASCAR Tires and Wheels

• Assurance (Passenger All Season)
  • TripleTred All Season
  • Triplemax
  • ComforTred Touring
  • FuelMax
  • CS Fuel Max (SUV)
  • CS TripleTred All Season (SUV)
  • Weather Ready
  • Outlast (Exclusively sold at Walmart Auto Care Centers)
• Integrity (OE All Season)
• Fortera (SUV)
  • Silent Armor
  • TripleTread
  • HL
  • SL
• Wrangler (truck)
  • Silent Armor
  • All Terrain Adventure
  • AT/R
  • AT/S
  • AT/SA
  • RS/A
  • RT/S
  • SR-A
  • TG
  • HP
  • HP AW
  • MTR with Kevlar
  • DuraTrac
  • DuraGrip
  • Radial (235/75R15 only)
• EfficientGrip (Summer Tires)
  • EfficientGrip Performance
  • EfficientGrip Compact
• Eagle (Touring/Performance/OE)
  • Eagle F1
  • Eagle F1 Asymmetric SUV
  • Eagle F1 Supercar
  • Eagle F1 GS-D3
  • Eagle F1 Directional 5
  • Eagle F1 Asymmetric
  • Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2
  • Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
  • Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5
  • Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6
  • Eagle Efficient Grip
  • Eagle Efficient Grip Performance
  • Eagle GT3
  • Eagle LS
  • Eagle LS2
  • Eagle NCT
  • Eagle RS-A
  • Eagle RS-A 2
  • Eagle RV
  • Eagle Sport
  • Excellence
  • Response Edge
    • Carbon Fiber Technology
• Nordic (Winter tires)
• UltraGrip Ice (Winter tires)
• UltraGrip Ice WRT (Winter tires)
• UltraGrip Winter (Winter tires)
• Winter Command (Winter tires)
• KhADI-27

Goodyear Tire Company mechanic shop in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

Goodyear Tire shop in Markham, Ontario

2004-06 Ford F-150 Goodyear.

• Commercial Truck
  • Cargo G26
  • Cargo Marathon
  • Cargo Marathon 2
  • Cargo Vector
  • Cargo Vector 2
  • 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

Goodyear trailer at a NASCAR Nationwide Series race

• Airsprings (licensed to Infinity Engineered Products)
• Industrial hose
• Hydraulic products
• Conveyor belt products
• Power transmission products
• Molded transportation products (vibration control)
• Rubber Track
• Isoprene monomer
• Synthetic rubber for medical applications
• Synthetic rubber for chewing gum

Veyance Technologies was purchased by ContiTech and no longer has the rights to Goodyear's licenses.[69]

Goodyear-branded wiper blades are made under license by Saver Automotive, in Ohio. The wipers were never under the Veyance umbrella.

Goodyear also produces the rubber for Lacoste tennis shoes, the AG-LT 21 and AG-LT 21 Ultra.