AKRON — In terms of branding trends, the past year was relatively quiet for the North American tire industry.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Former Zafco International and Martino Tire & Auto executive Minoo Mehta is ramping up the scale of the wholesale distribution company he opened in 2015, by securing U.S. distribution rights to Pirelli-brand farm and OTR and Magna-brand OTR tires.

AKRON — Those curious about the effects of elevated import duties on a market need look no further than the U.S. replacement tire market over the past four years.

FINDLAY, Ohio — Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has raised prices on its Cooper- and Roadmaster-brand truck tires to compensate for the elevated import duties levied by the U.S. government on truck tires from China. 

AKRON — Is it time for the industry to consider adding "all-weather" to the accepted product mix vocabulary?

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — OK Tire Stores Inc. is committing $75 million (C$100 million) over the next five years to expand its distribution capabilities across Canada to support its drive to recruit new franchisees and grow market share.

AKRON — 2018/19 will go down as one of the commercial tire industry's most active periods in terms of mergers/acquisitions, with as many as 75 points of sale/service and 14 retread plants changing hands over the past 12 months.

TOKYO — Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. has scaled back production expectations for its U.S. truck tire factory in West Point, Miss., due to a combination of facility- and personnel-related issues.

AKRON — Will the newly imposed countervailing and antidumping import duty orders on truck and bus tires from China lead to shortages of tires and/or rising prices?

MIAMI — Tire Group International L.L.C. is adding UHP, SUV, SUV-UHP and M/T patterns to its Cosmo brand as it gears up to launch the brand to U.S. customers.

WASHINGTON — Despite measurably lower exports of passenger and light truck tires to the U.S. last year, China was the U.S.'s largest trading partner in the tire sector for a second straight year, slightly ahead of Thailand.

ATLANTA — Reinalt-Thomas Corp. and Mavis Tire Supply L.L.C. are locked in a legal battle over the right to use "Discount Tire" in their retail store names.

AKRON — Much like in the U.S. over the past year, the wholesale landscape in Canada has changed measurably of late, led by the late 2018 acquisition by Montreal-based Groupe Touchette Inc. of Atlas Tire Wholesale Inc.

SAN DIEGO — Greenbriar Equity Group L.L.C. has acquired Evans Tire & Service Centers Inc. of San Diego in a private equity transaction, expanding the holdings under its GB Automotive Service Inc. unit to 64 locations.

COLUMBIA, Miss. — Southern Tire Mart is buying 46 GCR Tires & Service stores and six retread plants in the southern U.S. from Bridgestone Americas Inc., a deal that will expand Southern Tire Mart's reach to more than 135 commercial tire locations in 14 states.