February
• Goodyear CEO and President Rich Kramer tells dealers that a "new mobility ecosystem" will drive changes in how autos are designed and tires are marketed.
• More than 11 tire companies announce price increases, ranging from 5 to 9 percent.
• The International Trade Commission (ITC) levies relatively low duties on OTR tires from India and Sri Lanka.
• TBC Corp. sells its SpeeDee Oil Change & Auto Service franchise business to quick-lube business franchisor Grease Monkey International Inc.
• Monro Muffler Brake Inc. announces it will buy 16 Car-X Tire & Auto Service stores in Illinois and Iowa from the stores' franchisor, NONA Inc.
• Hankook Tire Co. Ltd. purchases JAX Tyres, Australia's largest tire retailer.
• Goodyear agrees to pay a $1.75 million fine in a settlement with the Virginia regulatory agency in connection with four deaths at its facility in Danville, Va., over a 12-month period that began in August 2015.
• The ITC determines that the U.S. truck and bus tire industry has not suffered material damage because of Chinese imports, thus voting not to charge elevated duties.
• Five more tire companies announce price increases ranging from 7 to 9 percent.
• Sears Holdings Corp. opens its first DieHard Auto Center Driven by Sears location, in San Antonio.
• Tire service truck supplier Stellar Industries Inc. buying fellow service truck producer American Crane Inc. (ACI) and Tire Trucks International (TTI).
• Carlstar Group L.L.C. will invest $6.9 million to expand its wheel plant in Aiken, S.C.
March
• American Tire Distributors Inc.'s (ATD) Tire Pros program stresses a "One with the Pros" unity message at the group's annual conference, as the organization of independent tire dealers pushes to reach 900 stores by 2018.
• Point S U.S.A., with more than 200 locations in the country, looks to grow in the eastern U.S. after converting Tire Factory dealers to the Point S retail store brand.
• Canada replaces China as the No. 1 tire trading partner of the U.S., as elevated import duties on Chinese consumer tires depress shipments from there.
• Ontario moves to disband the Ontario Tire Stewardship as the province moves to a government-mandated, producer responsible tire recycling system.
• Dunn Tires L.L.C. revamps its Dunn's Exxpress Tire Delivery wholesale business Exxpress Tire Car Care dealer marketing program.
• China's Qingdao Doublestar Co. Ltd. signs agreement to buy 42-percent stake in Kumho Tire Co. Inc.
• A JD Power OE Tire Consumer Satisfaction study reports that 37 percent of owners are loyal to their OE tires.
• U.S. Department of Commerce levies preliminary antidumping duties against importers of emulsion-styrene-butadiene rubber (ESBR) from Mexico, Brazil, Poland and South Korea.
• China's Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd. eyes 25-percent growth in tire production and 10-percent growth in truck radial growth.