Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. experienced a net loss of $101 million during the first quarter of 2023 compared to net income of $96 million during the same period last year.
"The decrease in net income was primarily due to cost of goods sold increases, driven by inflation and higher raw material costs," say Goodyear officials.
The Akron, Ohio-based tiremaker posted a year-over-year sales increase of 0.7% during the first three months of 2023, "driven by strong price/mix, partly offset by the effect of lower volume and the impact of foreign exchange."
Goodyear's total tire unit volume totaled 41.8 million, a 7.1% drop from prior-year levels.
In its Americas region, Goodyear posted sales of $2.9 billion, a decrease of $48 million from the first quarter of 2022. Americas tire volume experienced a 7.5% decline during 1Q 2023.
Goodyear's segment operating income in the Americas totaled $79 million compared to $216 million in segment operating income reported during the same period in 2022 - a decrease of $137 million.
The company's overall tire volume in the Americas dropped 7.5% from previous-year levels.
"At the end of the first quarter, U.S. consumer replacement channel inventories of legacy Goodyear-branded products were in line with the same period last year," say Goodyear officials. "This compares with inventories up 10% year-over-year at the end of the fourth quarter 2022."
Net sales in Goodyear's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region increased year-over-year to $66 million, up 4.6% versus the same period in 2022. EMEA segment operating income totaled $8 million, $51 million less than during 1Q 2022.
Sales in Goodyear's Asia-Pacific region during 1Q 2023 increased 2.6% to $582 million versus the same period last year. Goodyear's Asia-Pacific segment operating income grew by $10 million to $38 million.
Goodyear says its second quarter 2023 results "are expected to be negatively impacted by the effects of softer industry volume and the ongoing effects of inflation. Having said that, we are expecting significant growth in Americas segment operating income margin, as well as margin growth in Asia-Pacific, driven by the continued benefits of price/mix and improving raw material and other cost trends."
