2017: a 'volatile' year in review

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.

April

• Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C. stresses the importance of dealers while adding incentives to its Gold program during its annual dealer meeting.

• Pirelli & C. S.p.A. moves closer to splitting its consumer and commercial tire companies as it renames its truck tire unit Prometeon Tyre.

• Titan International Inc. and the United Steelworkers (USW) reach a five-year labor agreement covering workers at three U.S. plants.

• Jensen Tire & Auto Inc. breaks ground on a warehouse and training facility in Omaha, Neb.

• Plaza Tire Service Inc. opens its 60th retail store.

• Southern Tire Mart L.L.C., Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems retain titles as North America's largest independent commercial dealership and retreader, respectively.

• Apollo Tyres Ltd. inaugurates a passenger and truck tire plant in Gyöngyöshalász, Hungary, its first greenfield tire plant outside of India.

• On the 60th anniversary of its Bandag business unit, Bridgestone Americas Inc. launches a global campaign to reinvigorate the retreading technology subsidiary.

• The USW files a complaint against the U.S. Court of International Trade, seeking judicial review of the ITC's negative determination of truck and bus tires from China.

• East-West Copolymer L.L.C. of Baton Rouge, La., a maker of synthetic rubber, files for bankruptcy.

• Pressure Systems International Inc., a developer of commercial vehicle tire inflation systems, acquires Truck System Technologies Inc., a tire pressure monitoring and mobile asset management system.

• Prometeon Tyre Group S.r.L., Pirelli's new commercial tire business, launches its own website and its intentions to integrate China's Aeolus Tyre Co. into its operations.

• RNR Tire Express & Custom Wheels expands its franchising plans to Nebraska and Iowa.

• Bridgestone Americas Inc. reopens its expanded data center in Akron.

May

• Nokian Tyres P.L.C. approves plans to build a $360 million, 830,000-sq.-ft. plant, rated at 4 million passenger and light truck tires per year, near Dayton, Tenn.

• Supreme Court reverses and remands a $2.74 million damage award against Goodyear and two attorneys who represented the tire maker in a product liability lawsuit.

• NAPA Auto Parts and its parent company, Genuine Parts Co., are ordered to pay $81.5 million in damages to a family of a man who died of an asbestos-related disease.

• Bridgestone, Continental, Coop-er, Goodyear, Hankook and Michelin will help fund the expansion of Smithers-Rapra's tire and wheel testing center in Ravenna, Ohio.

• Berkshire-Hathaway Specialty Insurance Co. files suit against Goodyear over asbestos-related claims.

• Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack acquires Mathis Tire & Auto Service and Direct Tire Distributors of Memphis, Tenn., giving Pep Boys 12 locations in a new market.

• Seven Chinese OTR manufacturers appeal revamped antidumping and countervailing duties against them levied by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

• General Motors Co. collaborates with several rubber and tire suppliers, including Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear and Michelin, to establish a plan to source more rubber through environmentally sound and sustainable natural rubber production.

• Auto Care Association warns that implementing a border adjustment tax on imported goods would result in a $160 increase in annual auto repair and maintenance costs for the average family.

• Goodyear signs deal with the National Basketball Association's Cleveland Cavaliers to put its iconic Wingfoot logo on the front of Cavs' jerseys.

June

• Marangoni Tread North America Inc. launches a petition drive to spur the Trump administration to reconsider the U.S. Commerce Department's decision not to impose duties on imports of truck tires from China.

• The Rubber Manufacturers Association rebrands itself as the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA).

• The USTMA testifies at a U.S. Department of Commerce hearing that specific types of "tire cord-quality" steel wire rod, tire cord and bead wire should be excluded from a national security investigation of steel imports.

• American Tire Distributors Inc. opens a mixing center in Roanoke, Texas.

• Goodyear says it is planning to stop tire production at its plant in Philippsburg, Germany, five months earlier than it originally announced.

• The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fines Goodyear $27,713 for alleged safety violations at its plant in Topeka, Kan., in connection with the death of a worker in March.

• Michelin unveils an "airless, connected, rechargeable, customizable and organic" concept tire/wheel hybrid called Vision during its Movin'On 2017 conference on sustainable mobility in Montreal.

• China's Wanli Tire Group, supported by $1 billion from its state-owned parent company, Guangzhou Vanlead Group Co. Ltd., considers building a tire plant in South Carolina that would employ at least 400.

• Icahn Enterprises L.P. will pay $37 million to buy Precision Auto Care Inc., a franchising enterprise with more than 250 franchised and company-owned Precision Tune Auto Care-branded retail locations across the U.S.

• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit remands a $2.7 million damage award against Goodyear and two attorneys who represented the tire maker in a product liability lawsuit.

• Pirelli suspends operations indefinitely at its Venezuela tire plant due to failure to secure raw materials.

• ATD acquires Pneus Superieurs Inc. of Quebec, expanding its network of warehouses in Canada to 24.

• St. Lucie Battery & Tire opens 14th store in Florida.

July

• As renegotiation nears for the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Mexican and U.S. businesses from the tire and auto parts industry debate the merits of the law.

• Group Michelin reorganizes its operations in 10 regions and 14 business units, resulting in 1,500 job cuts in France and 450 in the U.S.

• Constant technology advancement and community support are keys to the future of Michelin, Pete Selleck, chairman and president of Michelin North America Inc., tells an audience at Movin'On 2017.

• Site preparation begins for Nokian's Tennessee plant.

• Burke Centre Automotive merges with Wiygul Automotive's Clinic's chain of seven retail stores in Virginia and Maryland.

• McCarthy Tire Service buys P.J. Dooling Tire Co., an OTR dealership in Philadelphia.

• Accuride Corp., a supplier of commercial vehicle wheels and wheel-end components, realigns its structure after acquiring wheel supplier KIC L.L.C.

• East Bay Tire Co. opens a commercial service center in Hawaii, its 13th location overall.

• Global commodities merchant Castleton Commodities International L.L.C. buys majority interest in Delta-Energy Group, a manufacturer of carbon black and liquid chemicals from recycled scrap tires.

• Snider Fleet Solutions acquires 27 commercial tire locations, including four retread plants, from Michelin North America's TCi Tire Centers L.L.C. subsidiary.

• Tire Discounters Inc. says it plans to double its store network in five years through acquiring small dealerships seeking to leave the business.

• The U.S. Department of Commerce rules that ESBR from Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Poland are being dumped in the U.S., leveling antidumping rates ranging from 9.66 to 44.3 percent.

• Michelin North America sues Tire Recappers of Nashville Inc., alleging infringement on patented Michelin and BFGoodrich tread patterns.

• A group of Miami, Okla., residents sue BFGoodrich Co. and Michelin, alleging BFG failed to warn state and local authorities about leaks of hazardous waste in a now-defunct tire plant in Miami.

• Continental will expand its 6-year-old tire plant in Hefei, China, boosting the plant's capacity 30 percent.

• Discount Tire/America's Tire opens 25 more retail stores, marching toward 1,000 stores, while announcing plans to build a 700,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Dallas.

• A Middle Eastern strategic investment fund, Mubadala Investment Co., makes an equity investment in Nexen Tire Corp., promising to explore a broad range of business initiatives.

• ATV Inc. opens three more American Tire Depot retail stores, increasing its network of stores to 99 in Southern California.

• Jeep and light truck parts retailer 4 Wheel Parts opens its 80th and 81st North American locations.

• Gateway Tire & Service Center breaks ground on an $11 million tire distribution warehouse in Dothan, Ala.

• Monro Muffler Brake Inc. will acquire 20 auto repair stores in the Midwest, including eight operated by a Car-X Tire and Auto franchisee.

August

• Bridgestone Americas, Goodyear and Sumitomo Rubber USA L.L.C. reach separate five-year labor agreements with the USW, covering more than 11,000 workers at 12 tire plants in the U.S.

• Despite a significant shortfall of natural rubber, NR prices continue to decline, a trend that began in January.

• The city of Texarkana, Ark., authorized the issuance of industrial development bonds, valued at $250 million, which will be used to support investment at Cooper's car and light truck tire plant there.

• The USTMA predicts that U.S. tire shipments in 2017 will slip slightly to 318.1 million, after earlier forecasting a slight increase over 2016.

• Carlstar L.L.C., Trelleborg Wheel Systems and Yokohama Tire Corp. announce price increases for at least the second time this year.

• Discount Tire/America's Tire targets Pittsburgh for its next area of growth, announcing plans to open an undisclosed number of stores there.

• New Jersey legislature passes law that prohibits sale of unsafe used tires.

• The ITC finds that the domestic ESBR market was materially injured by imports of ESBR from Brazil, Poland, South Korea and Mexico.

• TP Commericial Solutions L.L.C., a subsidiary of Prometeon Tyre Group, will open a U.S. headquarters in San Diego.

• Continental Tire the America's BestDrive L.L.C. commercial service unit opens its 21st service center in the U.S., inaugurating a facility in Kansas City, Kan.

• Love's Travel Shops & Country Stores Inc. enters the retread market, opening four Oliver Rubber-affiliated retread plants in the U.S., each capable of turning out 400 units per day.

• A review of first-half fiscal performances by tire makers shows increased costs of raw materials result in declines in operating income and lower earnings, despite higher revenues.

• Qingdao Doublestar Tyre's pending deal to buy 42 percent of Kumho Tire hits a snag.

• Sears Holdings Corp. and Icahn Automotive Group L.L.C. target Detroit for growth.

• Monro Inc. is buying a dozen Speedy Auto Service locations in Michigan and converting them to its Monro Muffler Brake brand, while its shareholders announce that it is dropping "Muffler Brake" from the firm's corporate name.

• Smithers-Rapra will expand its winter testing site near Brimley, Mich., adding new track surfaces, a conference center and two rental buildings.

• Plaza Tire Service opens a second store in Springfield, Mo.

• Bridgestone retains top ranking on Tire Business' Global Tire Rankings, holding steady in front of Group Michelin, Goodyear, Continental A.G. and Pirelli & C. S.p.A.

September

• Tire dealerships from around the country come together to help others in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Hurricane Irma in Florida.

• Goodyear enhances its e-commerce program, giving tire dealers the opportunity to match tire prices for consumers who find better prices through the Goodyear website.

• USW asks the U.S. Court of International Trade Commission to reverse and remand the ITC's negative determination on import duties on truck and bus tires imported from China.

• Icahn Automotive says it will purchase 15 Advanced Auto Service & Tire Centers of Phoenix and convert the facilities to its Pep Boys Service & Tire Center brand.

• An Iowa judge orders Titan Tire Corp. and Dico Inc., both subsidiaries of Titan International Inc., to pay nearly $11 million in fines to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for allegedly selling contaminated buildings to avoid cleanup at a former Dico site.

• Pirelli & C. S.p.A. moves ahead with plans for an initial public offering on the Italian stock exchange, declaring its intent to sell up to 40 percent of the firm's capital.

• Dealer Tire L.L.C. secures an agreement to supply tires to Southeast Toyota Distributors L.L.C in five states, replacing TBC Corp./Tire Kingdom as Southeast Toyota's vendor.

• The Tire Industry Association announces it will induct three into its Hall of Fame: Godfrey Cabot, founder of Cabot Corp.; William Conklin III, former president of Schenuit Tire & Rubber Co.; and industry veteran William Gaither; while it will award the Ed Wagner Leadership Award to Anthony Blackman of Atlantic Tire & Service and to Dave Zielasko, editorial director and publisher of Tire Business.

• The USW ratifies contracts with Goodyear, Bridgestone and Sumitomo, covering 11,000 workers at 12 U.S. facilities.

• Tire cord supplier DuraFiber Technologies plans to close three U.S. plants and sell polyester yarn plants in France and Mexico.

• Nokian Tyre P.L.C. breaks ground in Dayton, Tenn., on its first North American tire plant.

• Michelin North American agrees to sell 16 TCi Tire Center commercial service locations in Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Texas to T&W Tire of Oklahoma City.

• Michelin secures deal to replace Continental as the designated race tire supplier for the International Motor Sports Association, beginning in 2019.

• Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. will purchase Speedco Inc., a Bridgestone Americas Inc. commercial tire and service business, adding 52 trucking service and lube locations to Love's network.

• Goodyear breaks ground on a passenger and light truck tire plant in Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, that will make premium tires in small batches on demand.

• Sullivan Tire and Auto Service acquires Tom Lyons Tire & Auto Service of Waltham, Mass.

• After haggling over trademark rights and price, Doublestar ends its bid to acquire Kumho.

• Goodyear opens a technical center in California's Silicon Valley.

• Finnish court sentences 10 ex- Nokian workers for violation and abuse of company secrets.

• Titan International appeals $11 million fine for alleged environmental violations in Iowa.

October

• Icahn Enterprises L.P. purchases American Driveline Systems (ADS), franchisor of the AAMCO Total Car Care and Cottman Transmissions & Total Auto Care businesses, from an equity group.

• Singapore-based Giti Tire Group starts production at its $560 million tire plant in Richburg, S.C., making Giti the 16th global tire maker with U.S.-based manufacturing capacity.

• Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. budgets $125 million and $187.5 million to expand tire production capacity in the U.S. and Malaysia, respectively.

• The USW raises concerns about Kumho Tire Co. Inc.'s action toward workers ahead of a vote to unionize the tire maker's new plant in Macon, Ga.

• Apollo Tyres refutes report that it is considering a bid to purchase Kumho.

• Sentury Tire North America considers equity partners for its planned $530 million, 1.7-million-sq.-ft. manufacturing plant in LaGrange, Ga.

• U.S. Court of International Trade affirms a reduced antidumping rate on Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. consumer tires.

• Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd. acquires Danish wheel maker Starco Europe A/S.

• Michelin North America sues Tire Mart Inc. for alleged patent infringement.

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. buys minority interest in truck stop operator Pilot Travel Centers L.L.C.

• Hankook Tire America Corp. opens its first U.S. tire manufacturing plant, and eighth globally, an $800 million facility in Clarksville, Tenn., that is expected to produce 5.5 million car and light truck tires annually and create 1,800 jobs.

• Nexen Tire Corp. breaks ground on its 34,000-sq.-ft. technical center in Richfield, Ohio, as the South Korean firm considers building a manufacturing plant in North America.

• Michelin North America Inc. acquires scrap tire processor Lehigh Technology Inc, as it considers opportunities to use recycled rubber in tire and non-tire applications.

• Outgoing TIA President Tom Formanek reflects on strengthened relationships between his group and the USTMA.

• Bridgestone launches a $315 million, five-year investment in its tire plants in Poland and Spain, while Bridgestone Canada Inc. said it will close its Firestone Textiles Co. facility in Woodstock, Ontario.

• Marco Polo International Italy S.p.A. and Pirelli & C. S.p.A. complete their global offering of Pirelli shares aimed at listing them on Italy's stock exchange.

• Mergers and acquisitions shake up retail dealership rankings, as DiscountTire/America's Tire is top retail dealership of 2016, followed by TBC Retail, Monro Inc. and Icahn Automotive/Pep Boys, respectively.

November

• eBay Motors launches a tire installation service for U.S. customers through its "My Garage" platform, as well as an automotive technician search service.

• Bridgestone Americas rolls out its TireConnect online tire-buying platform across the U.S., two years after buying the Canadian software developer TireConnect Systems.

• Kent Olson, owner of Olson Tire Pros & Auto Service Inc., of Wausau, Wis., is named the Tire Dealer Humanitarian of the Year, based, in part, for the innovative Wheels to Work program which repairs donated vehicles and sells them to those who need a vehicle to get to work or to seek employment.

• Workers at the Kumho Tire Georgia reject union representation at its new plant in Macon, Ga.

• Amid ownership issues, former Kumho Tire CEO Kim Jong-Ho is named chairman of the South Korean tire maker

• Carl Robinson, a former Mickey Thompson Tire & Wheels executive, and George Finch, a 20-year industry veteran, are inducted into the Wheel & Tire Council (WTC) Hall of Fame.

• K&M Tire Inc. expands into New England by acquiring MotoStar Tire & Auto Products Inc., of Merrimack, N.H., increasing K&M's warehouse locations to 26 and its coverage of states to 27.

• Auto Care Association (ACA) president and CEO Bill Hanvey predicts a rosy outlook for the automotive aftermarket industry during a talk at SEMA.

• Filings on the Shanghai stock exchange and reports published in China indicate that Wehai, China-based Triangle Tyre Group has identified North Carolina as a possible site to build two tire plants.

• Johnson's Tire Service, one of Alaska's largest retail tire dealerships, closes abruptly, leaving customers in limbo.

• RNR Tire Express opens its 100th store, a four-bay building in Sarasota, Fla.

• Continental Tire the Americas' BestDrive L.L.C. opens its 22nd location, its first in Colorado.

December

• Big O Tires franchisee Mark Rhee acquires 44 NTB Tire & Service Center locations in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Missouri, with the intention of converting them to Big O outlets.

• Scientists at NASA's Glenn Research Center near Cleveland develop a non-pneumatic, compliant tire, called the Superelastic Tire, made of stoichiometric nickel-titanium mesh that they envision will be used on a mission to Mars.

• A U.S. District Court fines Doublestar Dong Feng Tyre Co. Ltd. and Quingdao Doublestar Tire Industrial Co. Ltd. $1.56 million in connection with a 2014 judgment prohibiting the manufacture and sale of tires using a tread similar to that of the Toyo Open Country M/T.

• Private equity firm CenterOak Partners L.L.C. acquires Grease Monkey International L.L.C., the franchisor of Grease Monkey, SpeeDee and LubePro's quick lube and Monkey Shine car wash businesses.

• China's Triangle Group Co. Ltd. said it will build its tire facility on U.S. soil, announcing plans to construct the first of two plants on a 1,449-acre tract of land near Rocky Mount, N.C., investing $580 million in the project.

• Michelin will sell its 40-percent stake in the Double Coin (Anhui) Warrior Tire Co. Ltd. joint venture to affiliates of the venture's majority partner, Shanghai Huayi (Group) Co. Ltd., including Double Coin Tire Group Co. Ltd.

• A global group concludes that tire and road-wear particles do not cause a threat to human health.

• Kumho Tire USA tells dealers at its annual North American Dealer Meeting that it rebounded in 2017 with double-digit growth, as the company looks to continue that momentum in 2018.

• Leeds West Group, a leading Big O Tires and Midas International franchisee, will buy 42 locations owned by Auto Systems Experts (ASE), a Davenport, Iowa-based Midas franchisee.

• Two industry experts examine the challenges and opportunities that come with the advent of autonomous vehicles.

• TCi sold commercial tire centers in Ohio and Michigan to Shrader Tire & Oil and Meekhof Tire Sales & Service Inc., respectively, and said its remaining TCi centers in Arizona, California and Colorado now will operate under the Michelin Americas Truck Tires business.

• Sentury Tire North America L.L.C. is field-testing a subscription service for retailing tires, called AvanTech Tires L.L.C., in selected markets throughout the Southeast U.S.

• Mickey Thompson Performance Tires & Wheels has completed its move to its new headquarters in Stow, Ohio, providing double the capacity of its previous headquarters.

• Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. will lay off 80 employees as it announces plans to reorganize, eliminating 60 salaried positions.

• Commercial trailer producer CIMC USA Inc. partners with China's Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd., venturing into the tire and retread business.

• Major natural rubber producers Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia agree to cut exports in a bid to address low natural rubber prices.

• Goodyear and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration's Sandia National Laboratories mark 25 years of collaboration.

• USW reiterates its opposition to ITC's decision that imports of Chinese truck and bus tires weren't causing material injury to U.S. manufacturers.

• The U.S. Department of Commerce rules that Belarus, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates have been dumping carbon- and alloy-steel wire rod in the U.S. and will be subject to elevated duties.

• Kumho Petrochemical Co. Ltd. files a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade, seeking a review of the U.S. ITC's decision to levy antidumping duties against ESBR imports from South Korea.

• Bridgestone Americas christens its $200-million, 514,000-sq.-ft., 30-story North American headquarters in Nashville, Tenn.