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Goodyear Seeks to Grow Winter Tire Market Share

21 January 1999

Goodyear Seeks to Grow Winter Tire Market Share

    ST. MORITZ, Switzerland, Jan. 20 -- Goodyear marketers will
seek to reverse the downhill slide of U.S. winter tires next week in this ski
resort city.
    In a major product introduction to the top news media from North America,
marketers say they'll outline an aggressive campaign aimed at more than
doubling the size of the U.S. winter tire market from 8 million to 20 million
tires.  They want North America to emulate Europe, where winter tires
represent more than 25 million tires.
    "We also plan to grow Goodyear's market share by 25 percent in the next
winter season and double it in the next three years with innovative tires that
provide traction in all kinds of winter weather," Jean-Jacques Wiroth,
marketing director for Goodyear North America, said.  "To achieve this, we
need to educate consumers on the need for winter tires in North America."
That's why the company invited news media from the United States and Canada to
the Land of Winter Tires.  A large majority of drivers in the Alpine region
switch to winter tires during the winter months.  In fact, winter tire sales
represent 50 percent of all tires sold.
    In the United States, the winter tire "has become the fifth wheel on the
family automobile," Wiroth said.  Goodyear officials say they want to change
all that.
    For tiremakers, winter tires are a profitable niche.  For Goodyear, the
niche is an opportunity, he said.
    Journalists will get a firsthand look at a new slate of winter tires that
perform as well in the rain and on dry pavement as they do on snow and ice.  A
new mid-priced winter tire called the Ultra Grip will be introduced to replace
Goodyear's best selling winter tire of all time, the F32.
    The new tire will join the recently unveiled Ultra Grip Ice tire and the
high-performance Eagle Ultra Grip, which debuted last year.  In all, 66 new
tire types will be available to Goodyear retailers in the 1999 winter-tire
selling season, Wiroth said.
    In a dramatic departure from the past, the company's winter tire lineup
will feature directional tread designs, which are better equipped for all
possible winter road conditions, particularly when the snow and ice turn to
slush, he said.
    Winter tire testing will be demonstrated in St. Moritz.  The media also
will travel to Goodyear's European Technical Center in Luxembourg, where
expertise in winter tire development and testing was key to the introduction
of the Ultra Grip Ice and other winter tires in North America.
    "North America motorists benefit from the company's winter-tire leadership
in Europe," Wiroth said.  "Our European capabilities in snow, ice and wet
traction are linked to our technical center in Akron, Ohio, which refines the
tire designs specifically for the North American driver, who expects excellent
winter performance and long treadlife."