AKRON, Ohio (Nov. 26, 2001)—Industry shipments of replacement passenger and light truck tires in North America were down 10 percent from last year´s levels during October, according to Goodyear. Acknowledging that its own October shipments of such tires also were down, the company said it made and will continue in November to make significant production cutbacks in order to align its inventories with market conditions.
The Akron-based tire maker said it shipped about 200,000 units in October as part of Ford Motor Co.'s replacement of Firestone Wilderness AT tires.
Industrywide shipments of commercial truck tires to the replacement market were up in October from last year´s levels, Goodyear said, adding that its own shipments generally reflected that trend.
Compared with a year ago, industrywide shipments of original equipment passenger and light truck tires were down 11 percent, while OE shipments of commercial truck tires were off 24 percent, Goodyear said. The company said its own OE shipments of passenger and light truck tires outpaced those of the industry but fell below the industry average in the case of commercial truck tires.
October prices of petrochemical-based raw materials remained stable with third-quarter levels, whereas energy costs— especially those of natural gas—improved from prior-year levels, the company said.