Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s North American Tire segment posted sales of $1.8 billion for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2009. Its 3Q segment operating income was $2 million.
Compared to the third quarter of 2008, North American Tire sales were down nearly 15%, reflecting the following, according to Goodyear:
* lower sales in other tire-related businesses, primarily third-party chemical sales;
* reduced industry demand; and
* unfavorable foreign currency translation.
Quarterly operating income compared favorably to the $19 million loss last year. The quarterly results benefited from lower raw material costs of $105 million and actions to reduce costs.
Third-quarter unit sales were down 5.5%, from 18.1 million tires in the third quarter of 2008 to 17.1 million. Original equipment unit volume declined 21%, while replacement tire shipments were up less than 1%.
For the first nine months of this year, Goodyear’s tire unit sales, sales and segment operating income were down compared to the previous year:
Tire units: down 15.5% (from 54.2 million to 45.8 million).
Sales: down 19.3% (from $6.3 billion to $5.1 billion).
Operating income/loss: down from $37 million to minus $278 million.
Goodyear has four business units. Its Europe, Middle East and Africa Tire segment posted the highest unit sales, 49.8 million tires, and overall sales of $4.2 billion for the first nine months of 2009.
As a company, Goodyear posted net income of $72 million on net sales of nearly $4.4 billion for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2009.
