Cinematic tire factory with black tires moving along industrial rollers and machinery.

Goodyear History: From Founding Crisis to Radial Change

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A Quick Look at the History of Goodyear

Company History Summary

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company began in Akron, Ohio, in 1898, when Frank Seiberling and his brother Charles “Charley” Seiberling started producing rubber goods in two former factory buildings. The business was named for Charles Goodyear, the nineteenth-century rubber pioneer, but he was not the company’s founder.

Goodyear grew with the expanding tire market, moved into overseas manufacturing, aviation, aerospace, chemicals, and other technical businesses, and repeatedly reshaped itself when technology, competition, financial pressure, and changing markets demanded it.

Major turning points included the 1920-1921 financial crisis, the 1970s conversion to radial tires, the 1986 takeover fight and resulting divestitures, the long Sumitomo Rubber Industries alliance, the 2021 acquisition of Cooper Tire, and the Goodyear Forward portfolio changes completed in 2025.

Company Snapshot

Founded: 1898

Founder: Frank Seiberling, with his brother Charles “Charley” Seiberling involved in the new company

Origin: Akron, Ohio

Industry: Tires and related products and services

Current Leadership: Mark W. Stewart, chief executive officer and president

Operating Structure: Regional tire businesses covering the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific

Key Brands: Goodyear, Cooper, and other regional brands

Best Known For: Tires and the Goodyear Blimp

From Rubber Goods to a Tire Company

Goodyear’s story started with a broad mix of rubber products rather than with automobile tires alone. In 1898, Frank Seiberling founded the company in Akron with his brother Charley involved in the new business. Early production included horseshoe pads, poker chips, carriage tires, and bicycle tires.

The name honored Charles Goodyear, whose work on vulcanized rubber predated the company by decades. That connection has sometimes created confusion, but Charles Goodyear was the namesake, not the founder of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.

As transportation changed, tires became increasingly important to the business. Goodyear says it introduced a straight-sided tire in 1901 using a braided wire bead designed to make mounting and removal easier while holding the tire securely to the rim. The company also formalized product-development work in the following years.

Growth moved beyond the United States relatively early. A Goodyear plant was built at Bowmanville, Ontario, in 1910, and the company’s broader overseas manufacturing and raw-material decisions during the following decades helped establish it as a multinational enterprise.

The 1920-1921 Crisis Changes Control

Rapid expansion did not produce a straight line of success. Before the 1920-1921 downturn, Goodyear had accumulated large rubber inventories and forward commitments in anticipation of strong postwar demand. When the recession arrived, demand weakened and rubber prices fell, cutting deeply into the value of those holdings.

The company entered severe financial distress. Refinancing arranged through Dillon, Read & Co. changed the leadership structure, and Frank Seiberling left control of the company in 1921.

Goodyear survived, but the episode ended the founder-led period and showed how quickly expansion assumptions could become balance-sheet pressure when commodity prices and demand reversed.

Airships, International Growth and Wartime Industry

After the refinancing, Goodyear continued expanding and developing businesses beyond ordinary tire manufacturing. Aviation became one of its most visible extensions.

Smithsonian’s history of the Goodyear Blimp identifies the Pilgrim, which debuted in 1925, as the first official Goodyear Blimp under the company’s usage. The airship quickly became a publicity and advertising vehicle as well as a link to Goodyear’s broader aviation work.

By World War II, Goodyear was participating in a much larger industrial mobilization. The company says its aviation operations produced war-related equipment, including Corsair aircraft. It also took part in the U.S. synthetic-rubber program created after access to major Southeast Asian natural-rubber supplies was cut off.

That synthetic-rubber effort was collaborative. Government agencies, academic researchers, and major rubber companies worked together to scale GR-S production. Goodyear was an important participant, but the achievement belonged to a wider national program rather than to one company alone.

In the postwar decades, Goodyear’s activities broadened further into aerospace, polymers, chemicals, industrial products, and other technical fields. That diversification would later matter because some of those businesses became targets for sale when the company again narrowed its focus.

The Radial Tire Challenge Rewrites Manufacturing

One of Goodyear’s most important technology tests came from the rise of steel-belted radial tires. European producers, especially Michelin, moved further into radial technology before U.S. tire makers adopted it at comparable scale.

Goodyear had radial experience in Europe, but in the late 1960s it continued to emphasize bias-belted tires in the United States.

The change accelerated after Charles J. Pilliod moved into top leadership. Pilliod became president in 1972, chief executive officer in 1974, and chairman later that year.

His international background had exposed him to markets where radials were already established. Looking back on the technology, he described it simply: “It was a proven technology.”

Goodyear then committed major capital to U.S. radial production. The shift required more than a new tire design. Plants, equipment, production systems, and capacity all had to change. The company closed Akron tire facilities in 1975 and 1978 while continuing technical investment in the area.

The radial transition illustrates a recurring pattern in Goodyear’s history: a major technology change could become a manufacturing-system change. Once the market shift became structural, adapting required capital, plant decisions, and operating changes rather than a marketing adjustment alone.

The 1986 Takeover Fight and a More Focused Company

Another major break came in 1986, when financier Sir James Goldsmith pursued a takeover of Goodyear. The contest ended after Goodyear adopted a restructuring that included buying back shares, reducing costs, taking on substantial debt, and planning the sale of several businesses.

The company remained independent, but that independence came with a different balance sheet and a narrower portfolio. The restructuring called for sales of oil and gas, aerospace, and motor-wheel operations, among other actions.

Ohio anti-takeover legislation was also part of the environment surrounding Goldsmith’s withdrawal, so the outcome cannot be reduced to a single defensive move.

The aerospace exit became concrete in 1987. Goodyear Aerospace Corporation was a Goodyear subsidiary, and the parent company sold the subsidiary’s assets to Loral on March 13 of that year. The transaction marked a significant retreat from one of the technical fields Goodyear had developed outside tires.

This period again shows the trade-off that can accompany a defense of corporate control. Goodyear preserved its independence, but the response accelerated divestitures and left the company heavily indebted at least initially. Portfolio focus and financial flexibility were being reshaped at the same time.

Dunlop, Joint Ventures and Operational Restructuring

In 1999, Goodyear entered a global alliance with Sumitomo Rubber Industries. The arrangement brought Dunlop-related businesses into a network of joint ventures across Europe, North America, Japan, and other activities.

Ownership was not uniform. Goodyear held 75 percent of the main European venture, while other ventures used different ownership structures.

The alliance expanded Goodyear’s reach but also created a complex corporate relationship. It lasted until 2015, when Goodyear and Sumitomo dissolved the global arrangement and redistributed ownership interests, businesses, and trademark rights. The unwind was not a simple worldwide sale of Dunlop; the outcome differed by region and use.

During the alliance years, Goodyear also faced major operating pressure. A United Steelworkers strike beginning in October 2006 involved about 12,800 workers at 16 U.S. and Canadian facilities and reduced production until a new agreement was ratified in December.

In 2007, Goodyear sold substantially all of its Engineered Products business for $1.475 billion, subject to adjustments.

The global recession that followed brought another downturn. Lower vehicle production and weaker replacement demand contributed to lower sales and production, while Goodyear responded with capacity, inventory, and cost actions.

The sequence reinforced a long-running pattern: the company repeatedly adjusted its footprint and portfolio as outside conditions changed.

Pandemic Shock and the Cooper Acquisition

The next major external shock arrived in 2020. Goodyear reported about $12.3 billion in net sales for the year, down roughly 16 percent from 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted demand, vehicle production, factory utilization, and tire volumes.

A year later, the company made one of its largest recent structural moves. On June 7, 2021, Goodyear completed its acquisition of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. Cooper survived the merger as a wholly owned Goodyear subsidiary. Goodyear paid about $2.1 billion in cash and issued roughly 46 million Goodyear shares as merger consideration.

The acquisition expanded Goodyear’s brand portfolio and distribution while adding another distinct corporate entity inside the group. Cooper did not simply disappear into the Goodyear name at closing, an important distinction when following the company’s modern structure.

Goodyear Forward and Another Portfolio Reset

By 2023, Goodyear was again examining the boundaries of its business. In July, the company announced a cooperation agreement with Elliott Investment Management, added three directors, and created a Strategic and Operational Review Committee to consider strategic and operating alternatives.

Goodyear announced the Goodyear Forward transformation plan in November 2023. The plan called for portfolio optimization, margin improvement, and lower leverage, with strategic alternatives for the Off-the-Road tire business, Dunlop rights, and the polymer chemicals business.

Those goals were company targets, but the related portfolio sales were subsequently completed.

Leadership also changed. Mark W. Stewart became chief executive officer and president on January 29, 2024.

In February 2025, Goodyear completed the $905 million cash sale of its Off-the-Road tire business to Yokohama, subject to agreed adjustments. In May, it sold major Dunlop brand rights in Europe, North America, and Oceania to Sumitomo Rubber Industries for $526 million, with separate payments for transition support and inventory.

The Dunlop sale still left continuing arrangements. Goodyear retained transition obligations and a long-term license to use the Dunlop brand for commercial tires in Europe. That made the 2025 transaction another step in a relationship that had already changed substantially in 1999 and 2015.

In October 2025, Goodyear completed the sale of its polymer chemicals business in a $650 million transaction. The sale included chemical plants in Houston and Beaumont and an Akron research-and-development facility, while supply and intellectual-property arrangements continued for Goodyear’s tire and materials needs.

By the end of 2025, Goodyear reported that the OTR, Dunlop-rights, and polymer-chemicals transactions had generated about $2.2 billion in gross proceeds. The formal Goodyear Forward portfolio-sale program was complete, leaving a company more tightly centered on its regional tire businesses and related services.

Where Goodyear Stands Now

As of the September 18, 2026 research cutoff, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company operates through three regional tire businesses: the Americas; Europe, Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific. Its portfolio continues to include the Goodyear and Cooper brands along with other regional brands.

Goodyear reported $18.28 billion in net sales and 158.7 million tire units sold worldwide in 2025. In the second quarter of 2026, it reported $4.25 billion in sales, worldwide tire volume of 36.5 million units, and a $204 million net loss.

The company cited factors including lower production and volume, inflation, tariff costs, and divestiture effects, partly offset by Goodyear Forward benefits and lower raw-material costs.

The operating footprint is still changing. In July 2026, Goodyear approved a plan to permanently close its Fayetteville, North Carolina, tire manufacturing facility, affecting about 1,750 jobs.

The company expected the closure to be substantially complete by the end of 2027, making the timing and projected benefits forward-looking rather than completed results.

Labor arrangements were also updated. On August 23, 2026, the United Steelworkers announced ratification of a new master contract covering roughly 2,600 Goodyear workers in Akron, Topeka, and Danville through April 28, 2029.

A History of Repeated Adaptation

Goodyear’s history does not follow one uninterrupted expansion plan. The company has moved through founder-led growth, financial crisis, internationalization, diversification, technology change, takeover pressure, joint ventures, acquisitions, divestitures, and renewed portfolio focus.

The recurring pattern is adaptation around a durable core in tires, rubber, materials, manufacturing, and mobility. Some changes were chosen as growth strategies; others were responses to recessions, war, technology shifts, labor conflict, market pressure, or capital constraints.

By 2026, the company remained in another period of operating adjustment, so the outcome of its latest changes was still unfolding.

Timeline

This timeline highlights the major milestones that changed Goodyear’s ownership, technology, business scope, and operating direction.

Timeline.

1898

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is founded in Akron, Ohio. Frank Seiberling starts the business with his brother Charles “Charley” Seiberling involved in the new company.

1901

Goodyear says it introduces a straight-sided tire using a braided wire bead.

1910

Goodyear’s first Canadian plant is built at Bowmanville, Ontario.

1920-1921

A recession and falling rubber prices contribute to severe financial distress. Refinancing changes control, and Frank Seiberling leaves the company.

1925

The Pilgrim debuts; Smithsonian reports that Goodyear considers it the first official Goodyear Blimp.

World War II

Goodyear participates in U.S. wartime industrial production and the collaborative national synthetic-rubber program.

1972-1974

Charles J. Pilliod becomes president, then chief executive officer and chairman.

1970s

Goodyear commits major capital to converting U.S. production toward radial tires and reshapes manufacturing capacity.

1986

Sir James Goldsmith ends his takeover bid after Goodyear adopts a large share-repurchase and restructuring plan that includes major divestitures and borrowing.

March 13, 1987

Goodyear sells the assets of subsidiary Goodyear Aerospace Corporation to Loral.

September 1, 1999

Goodyear begins its global alliance with Sumitomo Rubber Industries, creating a network of regional joint ventures associated with Goodyear and Dunlop businesses.

October-December 2006

A United Steelworkers strike affects about 12,800 workers at 16 facilities before a new master agreement is ratified.

August 1, 2007

Goodyear completes the sale of substantially all of its Engineered Products business for $1.475 billion, subject to adjustments.

2008-2009

The global recession reduces demand and production, prompting capacity, inventory, and cost actions.

October 1, 2015

Goodyear and Sumitomo Rubber Industries complete the dissolution of their global alliance and redistribute ownership interests and rights.

2020

The COVID-19 pandemic sharply reduces Goodyear’s sales and tire volumes and disrupts factory utilization.

June 7, 2021

Goodyear completes the Cooper Tire acquisition. Cooper becomes a wholly owned Goodyear subsidiary.

July-November 2023

Goodyear establishes a Strategic and Operational Review Committee after a cooperation agreement with Elliott Investment Management, then announces the Goodyear Forward transformation plan.

January 29, 2024

Mark W. Stewart becomes Goodyear’s chief executive officer and president.

2025

Goodyear sells its Off-the-Road tire business, major Dunlop brand rights, and polymer chemicals business as part of its portfolio simplification.

July-August 2026

Goodyear approves a plan to close its Fayetteville tire plant, and United Steelworkers members later ratify a new master agreement covering workers in Akron, Topeka, and Danville.

Interviews & Firsthand Resources

Charles J. Pilliod on the Radial-Tire Transition

European Rubber Journal’s retrospective on former Goodyear chairman and chief executive Charles J. Pilliod includes comments drawn from a 1998 interview. The piece is useful for understanding how Pilliod’s international experience shaped his view of radial technology and the scale of the manufacturing conversion that followed.

View the resource

Sources