Bruce Davis

Even as Sumitomo Rubber Industries moves to close its only U.S. tire factory, executives continue to be sold on the need for a manufacturing presence in North America.

Conti’s Hoosier Racing Tire business unit took top honors in the tire category for its TrackAttack Pro at the 2024 SEMA Show Best New Products Awards.

According to data collected and analyzed annually by Tire Business, the 100 largest dealerships (actually 105 due to ties) in North America operate over 10,250 points of sale among them.

In the year and a half since Turbo Wholesale Tires took on a private-equity investment partner, it has executed a series of strategic moves to help differentiate itself and its proprietary brands in an otherwise crowded field of suppliers.

<p>Michelin Group and Sumitomo Corp. of the Americas netted $174 million and $107 million, respectively, from the sale of TBC Corp.’s retail assets in May 2023.</p>

<p>Michelin, which up until a few years ago was focused almost exclusively on tires, anticipates making up to 20% of its annual revenue from non-tire manufacturing-related activities by 2030.</p>

<p>Southern Tire Mart retained its No. 1 position atop both the commercial tire dealer and retreader rankings, while the next few slots were jumbled in large part due to acquisitions.</p>

<p>Reinalt-Thomas Corp. has merged the activities of its Discount Tire Direct online business with those of its Tire Rack subsidiary.</p>

<p>For Basin Tire founder Mike Romtvedt, achieving success in rural Oregon the past four decades has been tied to a willingness to reinvent his business multiple times to keep pace with the region’s evolving economy.</p>

<p>Following several years of strong growth in the wake of the pandemic years, aftermarket demand for tires in the U.S. plateaued last year, leading to lower shipments, imports and production in most categories.</p>

<p>Hankook, Kumho and Nexen to see reduced antidumping duties first imposed in 2021 on passenger and light truck tires imported in South Korea.</p>

<p>The U.S. Department of Commerce has lowered antidumping duties on consumer tires from Thailand — in place since June 2021 — after a review requested by two Thai tire producers.</p>

<p>British rubber compounder SPC Rubber Group is branching into the tire business with the launch of Nova Motorsport, a global motorsport brand targeting the premium competition and specialist tire sectors.</p>

<p>The U.S. tire industry contributes nearly $171 billion in economic output annually, equal to about 0.8% of the nation’s gross domestic product.</p>

<p>The federal government’s decision whether to impose elevated import duties on truck/bus tires from Thailand might depend on whether the commissioners of the International Trade Commission believe in tier segmentation or not.</p>

Michelin Group has pledged to support a tire-recycling venture with an initial goal of recycling 1 million metric tons of tires by 2030.

Following a relatively upbeat year in 2022, when most of the world’s larger tire companies registered double-digit growth, the tire industry is bracing itself for a tough year in 2023.

Codes for factories in Cambodia, China, India, Sri Lanka among the 27 new U.S. Department of Transportation tire plant identification codes issued in the past year.

The International Trade Commission has set April 27 as the date it expects to issue its determination on whether to continue antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of certain OTR tires on India.

This article is featured in the Feb. 27 Tire Business Market Data Book.