Michelin designs all-season Toyo picks Serbia as 3 UHP run- ats for 2020 4 location of rst mid-engine Chevy Corvette European tire plant August 5, 2019 $79 per year, $4 per copy www.tirebusiness.com Boulevard Future of LT tires: Clear as mud acquires Style becoming nearly as GCR assets By Bruce Davis important as function for [email protected] NASHVILLE, Tenn. mud-terrain tires Bridgestone Americas Inc. has sold 10 GCR Tires & Service stores and one GCR retread plant in Florida and Geor- gia to Boulevard Tire Center of Deland, Fla., a longtime Bandag retread licensee. The deal — Bridgestone’s fourth dis- posal of GCR assets this year — will expand Boulevard Tire’s footprint to 26 commercial tire outlets in Florida and two in Georgia, together with ve retread plants in Florida and eight re- Mud-terrain tires continue to gain market share. tail-focused outlets. Financial terms of Bridgestone Americas Inc. photo the deal were not disclosed. By Kathy McCarron 10% of their light-truck tire sales. “Usually fuel pricing is reason- “In fact, demand for larger M/T The locations sold are in: Bartow, [email protected] And as pickup trucks coming off able, the economy is good, people tire sizes, 33-inch diameter and Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Ocala, Orlan- assive potholes notwith- assembly lines get bigger, the rim have expendable money. ... As long above, has nearly doubled in size do, Sarasota, Tallahassee and Tampa, standing, highway vehi- diameters of the M/T tires also are as the economy is in a good state, over the last 10 years,” he said. Fla., and Savannah and Waycross, Ga. Mcles have little need for increasing as vehicle owners add the segment will continue to grow. “With this growth, we have seen The retread plant is in Clearwater. Four mud-terrain tires, but that hasn’t lift kits. They (mud-terrain tires) two categories of consumers in the of these locations — Fort Myers, Jack- stopped some in the growing pop- The upbeat economy has are expensive.” M/T segment emerge: those who de- sonville, Orlando and Tampa — overlap ulation of light truck owners from helped this trend. Although a smaller sub- mand a durable, dependable tire solu- with existing Boulevard Tire outlets. pimping their rides with these ag- “If the economy is good, set of the light truck and tion that offers maximum traction in Boulevard Tire is considered the gressive-looking tires. people are buying these big- SUV tire segment, demand off-road conditions, and an increasing 10th largest commercial tire dealer- Mud-terrain (M/T) tires are a ger vehicles, these Jeeps, these for M/T tires continues to group of light truck and SUV owners ship in the U.S. with scal 2018 rev- small but steadily growing segment big, full-sized trucks,” Terry grow, Will Robbins, prod- who are looking to personalize their enue of nearly $180 million and 15th of the burgeoning light truck tire Smouter, director of sales uct manager for Bridge- vehicles by upgrading their tires with largest truck tire retreader with pro- segment for most tire makers, in management for Hankook stone Americas Tire Oper- more aggressive tread patterns and a duction of over 1,000 units daily. some cases accounting for 5% to Tire America Corp., said. Smouter ations, said. SEE LT , PAGE 21 Bridgestone said selling these loca- tions is part of its “ongoing effort to Trends in Tire Business Special Report strengthen its commercial tire distri- LightTruck Dealers say light truck A look at new LT Light truck sales bution network in the U.S.” 10 tires sales represent 16-17 products to hit 19-20 continue to Boulevard Tire did not respond to large part of business tire market grow in U.S. Tire Business queries to comment on Tires&Wheels the deal. This is the fourth tranche of GCR as- sets that Bridgestone has sold this year, encompassing 73 commercial service Goodyear refutes criticism of Mexico plant conditions outlets and a dozen retread plants. With By Miles Moore our request for a plant tour, and that this divestiture, GCR’s network drops [email protected] the security team also rejected our to fewer than 90 locations in the U.S., WASHINGTON in-person request during our visit down from 200-plus at the business Four members of the U.S. House to San Luis Potosi on Saturday, July unit’s height a few years ago. of Representatives are criticizing 20,” Mr. Blumenauer and the other The other recent deals were: Goodyear for its refusal to allow representatives wrote in the July 29 • 13 GCR Tires & Service stores and them to tour its Mexican tire plant letter to Goodyear Chairman, CEO three retread plants in North Carolina, during a recent fact- nding trip on and President Richard Kramer. South Carolina and Virginia to McCarthy labor conditions in Mexico. “We are also disappointed that Tire Service of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Goodyear said it disagrees strong- an iconic American company like • 46 GCR stores and six retread ly with the accusations made by the Goodyear, which is shedding jobs at plants in the southern U.S. to South- Goodyear photo Goodyear Four U.S. congressmen say Goodyear would not let them tour its plant in Mexico. congressmen in a letter they drafted. home while building new facilities in ern Tire Mart of Columbia, Miss.; and The representatives, led by House Mexico, is failing to provide its work- • Four GCR service locations and ©Entire contents copyright 2019 by Crain Communications Inc. All rights reserved. Trade Subcommittee Chairman Earl ers in Mexico with basic labor rights two retread plants to Parkhouse Tire Blumenauer, D-Ore., also requested that are recognized internationally Inc. of Bell Gardens, Calif. a formal response from Goodyear re- and under Mexican law,” they wrote. Bridgestone said it remains “very garding complaints of former workers Besides Mr. Blumenauer, the committed” to the GCR business, about poor working conditions, low signatories of the letter are Demo- which it has owned and operated since wages, illegal termination and dis- cratic Reps. Rosa DeLauro of Con- 1988. The GCR name is derived from crimination at the plant in San Luis necticut, Terri Sewell of Alabama the names of the business’ founders — Potosi, Mexico, which opened in 2017. and Jimmy Gomez of California. Balie Grif th, Harold Crawford and “We are disappointed that Good- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Perry Rose — who opened their rst year was unwilling to accommodate SEE GOODYEAR, PAGE 26 location in 1945 in Odessa, Texas. PROTECTS YOUR FLEET. PROTECTS YOUR REPUTATION. THE MICHELIN ® AGILIS ® CROSSCLIMATE ® TIRE FOR YOUR FLEET If your job takes you into the city, drive with con dence with Michelin’s most durable heavy-duty commercial light truck tire ever—the MICHELIN® LT -METRIC C-METRIC Agilis® CrossClimate® tire. It resists curb scrubbing, lasts up to 19% longer under heavy loads than the competition1 and offers excellent wet and snow traction. See the difference at MichelinTruck.com. 1Based on a treadwear test using tires in size LT265/70R17 121/118R on 2018 Ford F250 pickup trucks, loaded up to 9800 lbs, vs. the following competitors. Actual on-road results may vary. Average projected mileage to wearout: MICHELIN® Agilis® CrossClimate®: 24,500 miles, Bridgestone® Duravis™ M700 HD: 20,600 miles, Firestone® Transforce™ AT2: 22,000 miles, and Firestone® Transforce™ HT: 19,800 miles. Copyright ©2019 Michelin North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Michelin Man is a registered trademark owned by Michelin North America, Inc. Visit us on the web at www.tirebusiness.com TIRE BUSINESS, August 5, 2019 • 3 IndustryNews Toyo to invest $450M to build tire plant in Serbia BELGRADE, Serbia worldwide and make Toyo the southwest of Zrenjanin, Serbia, rm’s global growth strategy outlined last year Toyo Tire Corp.’s board of directors has ap- 15th global tire company with where China’s Shandong Linglong when Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. raised its owner- proved a $450 million investment plan to build production capacity in Europe. Tire Co. Ltd.is building a factory, ship stake in Toyo to 20% from 3%. a passenger and light truck tire plant in Europe to Toyo said the new factory will its rst in Europe. At that time, Toyo and Mitsubishi — a Toyo support the company’s growth plans for the re- incorporate its Manufacturing These plants will be the fth and distribution partner since 1974 — outlined a gion, which represents about 15% of Toyo’s global Execution System and elements sixth tire factories in Serbia. The wide-ranging strategic partnership that will tire sales. of the Internet of Things to make others are: Cooper Tire Europe enhance Toyo’s global distribution assets, help Toyo has selected a 150-acre site about 35 this a “sophisticated smart fac- in Krusevac; Mitas/CGS (Trelle- it compete more effectively in the evolving mo- miles northwest of Belgrade for the factory, tory” capable of achieving high borg) in Ruma; Rekord Asiv D.o.o. bility sector and fund capacity expansions. which will be rated at 5 million units a year quality at low cost and of supply- in Belgrade; and Tigar Tyres/Group Tokyo-based Mitsubishi’s increased share at full capacity. Toyo plans to break ground in ing differentiated and high value-added prod- Michelin in Pirot. ownership represented a $425 million infusion of May 2020 at the site in Indija, Serbia, with pro- ucts for luxury passenger vehicles and light Toyo said it supplies tires for the European and new capital. duction slated to start by January 2022. trucks within and outside the European market. Russian markets from factories in Japan and Ma- Toyo only recently disclosed plans to expand The plant is expected to hit full capacity by Inđija is a municipality of about 47,000 in- laysia.