Group Michelin retained its spot as the top tire maker in the world, in terms of revenue generated by the sale of tires sold in 2020. The company also was No. 1 on our list last year, when it eclipsed Bridgestone, who had held the top spot for more than a decade.
Of course, 2020 — the COVID-19 pandemic — was a whole other beast. Tire Business Special Projects Reporter Bruce Davis summed it up perfectly in the Global Tire Report when he called 2020 an "asterisk" year.
• This story originally ran in the Aug. 30, 2021, print edition of Tire Business. Subscribers may download the digital edition here.
Almost every company in our Top 75 rankings experienced a decrease in sales compared with 2019. Michelin, for example, held on to the top spot, but the French tire maker saw tire-sales revenue dip by more than $3 billion year-over-year.
Tire-related revenue by the Top 75 tire makers globally fell 8.2% in 2020 from 2019 to an estimated $159 billion, the lowest sum since 2016.
Among the leading 25 companies in our rankings, 20 reported drops in revenue last year, including a dozen with double-digit declines. Collectively, the drop was 11%.