Yokohama's Q1 2025: Sales High, Profit Low
Recently, Yokohama released its sales data for the first quarter of 2025. Yokohama, which has successively acquired Terebau wheel systems and Goodyear's special tire business, set a record high with sales revenue of 275.1 billion yen (about 13.7 billion yuan). With sales of tire business surpassing Sumitomo Rubber, Yokohama has become the second largest tire manufacturer in Japan in the first quarter of 2025.
At the same time, thanks to the two major acquisitions, Yokohama's sales in the first quarter have further narrowed the gap with Pirelli, and it is only about 500 million yuan away from entering the top five.
But it is worth noting that Yokohama's profits in the first quarter fell sharply due to "the costs related to the acquisition and integration of Goodyear's off-road tire business"!
In the first quarter of 2025, Yokohama's sales hit a new record high of 275.1 billion yen (about 13.7 billion yuan), an increase of 9% over the same period in 2024, setting a record high in the first quarter.
The sales revenue of the tire department totaled 250.318 billion yen (about 12.477 billion yuan), an increase of 10.4% year-on-year, accounting for 91% of Yokohama Group's consolidated sales revenue.
Operating profit was 19.3 billion yen (about 962 million yuan), down 27.7% from the same period last year; profit attributable to the parent company's owners totaled 8.5 billion yen (about 424 million yuan), down 56.9%.
Not only did sales surpass Sumitomo Rubber, but operating profit and net profit also ranked second among Japanese tires.
At the same time, Yokohama said that after completing the financial integration of Goodyear off-road tires, its profits are expected to perform better. Such expectations are more in line with its current operating conditions. In the first quarter of 2025, Yokohama's tire business had an operating profit margin of about 9%, and after deducting acquisition costs, Yokohama showed strong business profitability.
Yokohama said in its financial report that Yokohama's supporting business performance in the first quarter was better than the same period last year due to the popularity of Yokohama's supporting models in Japan and the continuous increase in sales of Chinese new energy vehicles in China. Yokohama's sales in the supporting market in China increased by 1% year-on-year.
At the same time, Yokohama's growth in sales of summer and winter tires in Japan, growth in sales of large-size high-value tires in Europe, and higher sales brought about by expanding more channels in Asia also brought strong growth to its replacement market.
In the European market, Yokohama's accessories and replacement tire sales increased by 26% and 28%, respectively. Speaking of the replacement tire market, Yokohama once again mentioned its expanding off-road tire business. What is more intriguing is that Yokohama in Japan and Zhongce Rubber in China have increased their off-road tire businesses to varying degrees in the past three years.
Zhongce Rubber's expansion in the off-road tire field has achieved profit growth, while Yokohama has brought strong sales revenue growth through its off-road tire business.
In the first quarter of 2025, Yokohama's tire business accounted for 88.3 billion yen (4.4 billion yuan) from off-road tires, a year-on-year increase of 9.9%. Off-road tire sales accounted for more than 35% of its total sales. In February 2025, Yokohama completed the integration of Goodyear's off-road tire business; sales revenue of the off-road tire business increased year-on-year.
However, in the first quarter of 2025, Yokohama's supporting business in this segment was difficult due to the continued sluggishness of the overall off-road tire market. In the first quarter, Yokohama focused more on expanding sales in the replacement market.
However, Yokohama said that in the second quarter of 2025, the off-road tire supporting business still faces great challenges due to tariff uncertainties. Yokohama will achieve higher sales by expanding the supporting sales of off-road tires (excluding agricultural tires).
In the first quarter of 2025, Yokohama has been restructuring its off-road tire business. In addition to incorporating Goodyear's off-road tires into its own business, Yokohama has also optimized its production capacity layout in this market-announced the closure of its Trelleborg Wheel Systems (TWS) plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina (which produces Trelleborg-branded radial agricultural tires), as well as the off-road tire plant in Prague, Czech Republic.
At the end of 2024, Yokohama also announced the closure of its off-road tire plant in Israel. However, in the second quarter of 2025, Yokohama started its acquisition journey again. In May of this year, Yokohama announced the blockbuster news of the successful acquisition of a tire manufacturing plant in Romania.
The plant was previously affiliated with Euro Tyres Manufacturing SRL. In fact, the plant was closed in January this year because its parent company Euro Tyres declared bankruptcy (7 years ago). It is reported that Yokohama Tire successfully reached this acquisition through direct negotiation procedures.
The first quarter has passed, and the growth in sales and the decline in profits have not affected Yokohama Tire's operating goals for 2025. In 2025, Yokohama Tire still set its sales target at 1.22 trillion yen (60.8 billion yuan), an increase of 11.4% year-on-year; operating profit increased by 10.8% to 132 billion yen (6.6 billion yuan).
