Goodyear Says Stretched Consumers Buying More Tires, Auto Repairs

The nation’s largest tiremaker and owner of a chain of 1,000 retail auto service centers said Friday that it had booked its best first quarter revenues in a decade at a time when consumers are putting money into older vehicles to keep them on the road.

In addition, Goodyear said it was able to overcome ongoing supply chain disruptions and the continuing spread of COVID in China, and grow its sales by 40% for the three months ending March 31st, as customers adapted their spending to the current environment.

The tire manufacturer-retailer’s press release also said its newly acquired Cooper Tire unit grew 20% and helped the Ohio-based business grow Q1 sales to $4.9 billion.

Goodyear also said it benefitted from “continued global market share growth” in the quarter, thanks to steady consumer replacement of tires on their existing vehicles at a time when record high prices for new and used cars, and gasoline are crimping spending.

“We delivered our highest first quarter revenue in 10 years despite ongoing supply chain disruptions, impacts from geopolitical issues in Europe and increasing COVID-19 restrictions in China,” Goodyear CEO Richard Kramer said.

“Moreover, with the addition of Cooper Tire and the benefit of strong pricing actions across our key markets, our merger-adjusted segment operating income grew nearly 40%,” he said.

In addition, Goodyear said the volume of tires sold rose 28% to 45 million units for the quarter.

Related: Robot Delivery Startup Starship Secures $100M in 30 Days

The results follow a March announcement by Goodyear that it was investing in robotic delivery startup Starship Technologies’ via its $42 million Series B fundraising round.