Americans are driving longer before they replace their tires, Mark Stewart, the CEO of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., said Tuesday. A rush to buy tires before tariffs went into effect, raising prices, has led dealers and other tire-sellers to stockpile products. And fleets are extending the lives of their vehicles, as well.
All have driven down recent tire sales in the U.S.
The company expects the slowdown to continue, Goodyear Executive Vice President and CFO Christina Zamarro said on a Tuesday earnings call — overall, tire sales were down nearly 6% for the third quarter of the year.
In the face of those decreases, Goodyear is focusing on partnerships that make its tires the original ones on vehicles and on selling larger tires with higher margins. For nearly two years, the Akron-based company reported, it has experienced an increase in sales of original equipment across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Zamarro added that with the economy expected to improve in 2026 and the stockpiled, pre-tariff tires likely to be sold, she believes Goodyear is well positioned for growth next year.
Still, Stewart said it was important to recognize the global context: “An industry environment that remains challenging, particularly given continued volatility in global trade flows.”
“Clearly, while the short-term conditions have been pretty turbulent, with a lot of global trade volatility, we are absolutely laser focused on controlling the controllables,” Stewart said. “That is absolutely our mantra.”
Goodyear Forward plan continues with sale of chemical business, completed last month
To that end, the company has completed the sale of all businesses it planned to offload as part of its Goodyear Forward plan. The last sale, completed at the end of October, was the majority of its chemical business. That sale includes a research office in Akron as well as facilities in Houston and Beaumont, Texas.
Proceeds from the $650 million sale will go toward reducing debt and funding other Goodyear Forward initiatives, the company said. The chemical business sale follows the sales of the company’s off-the-road tire business for $905 million and a $701 million sale of its Dunlop tire brand.
Tariffs continue to be an expense for the company, and Zamarro said they could cost about $80 million for the last three months of the year and $160 million in 2026. Stewart said Goodyear is looking at where to produce its goods as a result of those expenses and is relocating some production or materials to have the best cost.
“We try to preference for in the region, for the region, whenever possible,” he said.
Additionally, Stewart said, Goodyear plans to open more brick-and-mortar tire stores in the coming months. The company will also upgrade existing stores by adding more products and financing options, and, in some cases, redoing the interiors.
Doing so, he said, will help differentiate Goodyear in the future.
Overall, Stewart said, Goodyear has improved its financial standing, introduced more premium products and focused more on profitability. Goodyear, which lost $2.195 billion in the third quarter largely due to a change in U.S. and foreign tax expenses and a pension settlement charge, is continuing to position itself to improve business as the market returns to normal, he said.
“It’s been definitely a challenging marketplace for the entire industry, globally,” Stewart said. “Probably unprecedented, actually.”