How does Yokohama dominate the global tire market with 31.2 billion?
Recently, Yokohama said it would include the acquired Goodyear off-road business in its consolidated results starting in the first quarter of 2025, and is currently studying the estimated impact of this increase on consolidated earnings.
Yokohama said that the acquisition of Goodyear's off-road tire business is a strategic investment and is part of the group's growth strategy outlined in the Yokohama Transformation 2026 (YX2026) mid-term management plan.
The world's largest off-road tire manufacturer
In July 2024, Yokohama officially announced the acquisition of Goodyear's off-road (OTR) tire business, with a transaction price of US$905 million (the transaction amount was approximately RMB 6.6 billion based on the exchange rate at the time).
Four months later, Yokohama said that the acquisition of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's engineering machinery tire business was progressing smoothly.
Perhaps it is because after adding Goodyear's off-road tire business, Yokohama's specialty tire business is larger - Yokohama has previously stated that the acquisition will make it the "largest" off-road tire manufacturer. The increase in volume guarantees sales growth.
According to the company's previous assessment, the global engineering tire market will grow by about 6% per year, and the current size is about 45.4 billion yuan. Under such a forecast, Yokohama believes that it will show "much higher than the 2% annual growth rate expected in the consumer tire market" in the off-road tire business.
At the same time, Yokohama has "been in a dominant position" in the agricultural and forestry tire category through the acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems and Goodyear's off-road tire business - it is estimated that these two types of tires account for about 40% of the total off-road tire market.
In addition, after acquiring Goodyear's off-road tire business, Yokohama directly acquired the ability to produce giant tires with a diameter of 63 inches. This also helped Yokohama quickly fill its size supply gap in the off-road tire market.
With the world's largest off-road tire supply capacity, the advantage of agricultural and forestry market share, and a comprehensive product matrix of mining and construction machinery tires with diameters ranging from 25 inches to 63 inches, Yokohama has completely dominated the off-road tire market.
Next, Yokohama began to "streamline its business" for profit. In 2025, Yokohama decided to shut down the previously acquired Trelleborg Wheel Systems Prague plant in the Czech Republic to improve overall operational efficiency.
31.2 billion yuan, Yokohama's acquisition path
Yokohama's off-road tire business acquisition began with the acquisition of Alliance Tire Group (ATG) in 2016. Yokohama established a new company for this acquisition, called Yokohama Off-Highway Tires, or OHT as we know it now. In addition to Alliance Tires, OHT also incorporates Yokohama's off-road tire business. The transaction amount at the time was US$1.18 billion.
In 2023, in order to further expand the scale of its off-road tire business, Yokohama completed the acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems for 2.1 billion euros. At the end of 2023, Goodyear announced its transformation plan, which included the sale of its off-road tire business. Since then, Yokohama has been strategizing and finally reached a relevant transaction with Goodyear for US$905 million. Three major acquisitions cost Yokohama more than 31.2 billion yuan.
In Yokohama's view, the acquisition of Goodyear's off-road tire business is crucial - not only expanding its off-road tire product line, but also obtaining "advanced technology, strong brand power and professional services provided by skilled employees."
Goodyear's off-road tire business had sales of approximately US$678 million in 2023. In addition, the transaction also includes all shares of Giant Tire Co., Ltd. of Japan, which operates Goodyear's OTR tire plant in Japan; and Goodyear Earthmover Pty's off-road tire business.
Goodyear's transformation plan
Regarding the off-highway tire transaction with Yokohama, Goodyear CEO and President Mark Stewart said: "The sale of the OTR business is an important milestone in Goodyear's transformation.
Our product portfolio is now more streamlined, further improving efficiency and strengthening our focus on core industry-leading products and services.
" In addition, Mark Stewart also mentioned that "it intends to use the proceeds from the transaction to reduce leverage and fund initiatives related to Goodyear's forward transformation plan."
