Bruce Davis

Special Projects Reporter

[email protected]

330-865-6145

Bruce has been with Tire Business since its inception in 1983, helping create the business plan, format, design and content with then-editor and publisher Ernie Zielasko. Prior to that he was a reporter and marketing editor of Rubber & Plastics News from August 1980 to December 1982. Bruce was managing editor of Tire Business from 1983 to 1985, when he become the European correspondent for Tire Business, Rubber & Plastics News, European Rubber Journal and Urethanes Technology, all published by Crain Communications. He moved to Frankfurt, Germany, where he covered the European tire and rubber industry for all four magazines for the next 12 years, returning to the Akron office in early 1996 as special projects editor for Tire Business and Rubber & Plastics News. In his current role, Bruce heads up special projects such as the Global Tire Report and rankings of retailers, commercial dealers, retreaders and wholesalers among other topics. Bruce graduated from Ohio University in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

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Recent Stories
Letting it ride — Uber pitching ride-hailing as alternative to shuttles

SAN FRANCISCO — Ride-hailing pioneer Uber Technologies Inc. is targeting the automotive aftermarket service sector with a revised "Uber for Business" platform that it sees as a viable alternative to courtesy shuttles.
Nexen's American tech center up and running in Ohio

RICHFIELD, Ohio — Nexen Tire Corp. CEO Travis Kang cut the ribbon today on his company's newest investment, the $5.2 million America Technical Center in Richfield, a facility that's expected to help the South Korean tire maker improve its position as an OE tire supplier in North America
Huf, Baolong combining TPMS businesses into new venture, BH SENS

LAS VEGAS — Vehicle component producers Huf Hülsbeck & Fürst G.m.b.H. & Co. K.G. and Shanghai Baolong Automotive Group have formed a joint venture, BH SENS, that combines their respective tire pressure monitoring systems businesses into a new entity.
M&A continues to influence North American aftermarket tire, auto service sector

AKRON — It's beginning to sound like a broken record, but M&A — mergers and acquisitions — again influenced business development in the North American retail tire and auto service sector over the past year.
Greenbriar strategy: Build unmatched pool of talent

TUCSON, Ariz. — Two years ago, GB Auto Service was a non-entity in the U.S. tire scene. Today it's the 10th largest retail tire and auto service dealership in the U.S.
Sailun, NTW pitch Sailun as ‘value brand' answer

HAMPTON, Ga. — Six years after rolling out a strategy to establish the Sailun brand as a solid "value line" option in the U.S., Sailun Tire Americas and TBC Corp. are trying again — this time with tires sourced from Vietnam instead of China.
'Discount' suit settled; Mavis to rebrand around 200 stores

MILLWOOD, N.Y. — Mavis Tire Supply L.L.C. is preparing to rebrand as many as 200 of its Mavis Discount Tire stores throughout the South, Southeast and Atlantic Seaboard as "Mavis Tires & Brakes at Discount Prices."
Michelin sees ‘track to street' dividends in IMSA engagement

BRASELTON, Ga. — As the 2019 IMSA championship season draws to a close, Michelin North America Inc. (MNA) is reflecting on what it considers a successful first season as the series' exclusive tire supplier and sponsor.
Michelin to shut truck tire plant in France by year-end 2020

PARIS — Group Michelin has notified workers at its La Roche-sur-Yon, France, truck tire plant it intends to close the 47-year-old factory by year-end 2020
India's SUN-TWS hires industry vet Ken Cooper to head U.S. sales effort

DALTON, Ga. — Sun Tyre & Wheel Systems, an Indian producer of specialty tires, has established a U.S. sales company in Dalton and hired industry veteran Ken Cooper to oversee it.
Nokian upgrades HT lineup with One HT, due to launch in early 2020

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. —  Nokian Tyres P.L.C. has developed a premium all-season tire for light trucks, commercial vans and sport utility vehicles, the One HT, that will replace the Rotiiva HT in the tire maker's lineup starting in early 2020,
Nokian's U.S. plant on stream; firm to back local education initiative

DAYTON, Tenn. — Nokian Tyres P.L.C. has commissioned production at its Dayton passenger/light truck tire factory two years after breaking ground on the $360 million project.
Goodyear offering contract buyouts at Gadsden tire plant

AKRON — Goodyear has begun offering voluntary buyouts to certain employees at its Gadsden, Ala., tire plant as part of the company's strategy to strengthen its U.S. competitiveness by curtailing the production of tires for less profitable segments of the tire market.
Global tire makers reining in fiscal earnings expectations

AKRON — For all but a handful of the world's leading tire makers, the first six months of 2019 has been a challenging period that has resulted in nearly universal reductions in earnings and lackluster sales growth.
Capital spending for new plants down in 2018-19 period

AKRON — Capital spending on new capacities by the world's leading tire makers fell measurably in the past dozen months, to roughly $4 billion, but the total includes plans for seven greenfield factories.