September 2, 2013 Updated 9/2/2013

Sept. 2 Tire Business NewsPoint

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Tire Business

Hello, I'm Alaina Scott. Welcome to Tire Business NewsPoint, your video source for exclusive tire industry news.

Tire Business has released it 2013 Global Tire Report, ranking the world's largest tire makers, based on 2012 tire sales. The 10 largest tire makers in the world accounted for about 65 percent of global tire sales in 2012. Global tire sales plateaued after growing more than 20 percent each of the previous two years.

However, lackluster sales didn't dissuade several major tire makers from expanding production capacity. Collectively, tire makers budgeted more than $8 billion in capital expenditures for new and expanded capacities in their tire plants this past year.

Here's an overview of the Top 10:

-- Bridgestone -- No. 1 for the 5th year, outdistanced No. 2 Michelin in terms of tire revenues, despite experiencing minimal sales growth in 2012. Goodyear retains its No. 3 spot.

-- While Michelin ranks second among tire makers, it topped the list in capital expenditures, committing $1.5 billion toward capacity expansion and improvements at its tire production plants.

-- No. 4 Continental, which has increased its spending on infrastructure and R&D, recently began trial production at its new car and light truck tire plant in Russia.

--Sumitomo, which edged past Pirelli for the No. 5 spot, has set a goal of growing more than 8 percent annually for the next 8 years and reaching nearly $15 billion in sales by 2020.

-- Hankook Tire edged past Yokohama for the No. 7 spot after boosting sales 8 percent, while No. 8 Yokohama's 2012 sales fell slightly.

-- No. 9 Cheng Shin Rubber/Maxxis International, has become one of the largest tire companies in China. The Taiwanese company recently announced plans to build its 7th plant in China in the next few years.

-- A Chinese tire maker, Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber, rounded out the top 10.

You can find out more about the latest Tire Business rankings of the world's largest tire makers in our Sept. 2 print edition of Tire Business or digital edition.

For Tire Business NewsPoint, I'm Alaina Scott, thanks for joining us. Be sure to see our next exclusive report on Sept. 9.