Akron, OH-based Goodyear Tire & Rubber said its second-quarter sales topped $5 billion – a company record – as net income increased to $69 million, compared to profits of $30 million on revenue of $4.5 billion during the same period in 2004.
The company noted that tire volume in the second quarter increased to 56.4-million units, up from 55-million units in same quarter last year, with volume increases driven by gains in the European, Latin American and Asia/Pacific markets.
In North America, tire sales increased 6% in the second quarter driven by improved pricing and product mix, plus higher volume in the consumer replacement and commercial original equipment markets, the company said. However, those increases were offset by an 8% decrease in shipments to consumer OE customers.
“Five of our businesses had record second-quarter sales and margins improved in our North American and European Union tire businesses,” said Robert Keegan, Goodyear’s chairman & CEO. “We have been successful in offsetting the impact of record high raw material costs through strategic pricing actions and by driving product mix enhancement. We will continue to concentrate on these areas to address the inevitable raw material cost increases that we expect in the second half of 2005.”
Keegan said that raw material costs increased by about $133 million during the second quarter compared to the same period last year. He noted that raw material costs are expected to grow by approximately 10% for the full year of 2005, compared to 2004.