The ADAC automobile club recently presented its new test for winter tires
before. The testers put 28 tires to the test and evaluated criteria such as cornering behavior, braking distance and mileage. Depending on the tire size, different manufacturers were able to enjoy top marks: the test winners include Goodyear, Dunlop, Vredestein, Continental and Michelin. If you rank the world’s largest tire manufacturers by sales, all test winners – with the exception of Vredestein – are in top positions, according to the trade journal “Neue Reifenpresse”. These are the top ten:
1.Michelin
Sales in 2023: 28.3 billion eurosSales with tires only: 26.73 billion eurosHeadquarters: Clermont-Ferrand, France
Michelin has taken the top spot. According to its own information, the French tire manufacturer is present in 175 countries, has 67 plants and 132,200 employees. In 2022, the group produced around 167 million tires. Michelin reported sales of 13.5 billion euros for the first half of 2024, which means a decline of 3.1 percent after adjusting for currency effects. The company cited an unstable economic environment in Europe and weak development on the French market as reasons. By 2030, Michelin wants to increase the share of sales from the non-tire business – including areas such as conveyor belts, belts and seals – to 20 to 30 percent. However, CEO Florent Menegaux (62) maintained the forecast for 2024 in the first half of the year. The company expects an operating result of more than 3.5 billion euros.
The tire manufacturer, founded in 1882, is listed on the stock exchange. A little more than 95 percent of the shares are in free float. The largest shareholder, with 4.22 percent, is Mage Invest, the investment arm of the founding Michelin family, which is headed by Pierre Michelin in the fifth generation and brings together more than 100 heirs. According to press reports, the family of heirs is said to have a total of more than 7 percent of the shares.
2. Bridgestone
Sales in 2023: 27.59 billion eurosWith tires only: 25.69 billion eurosHeadquarters: Chuo, Tokyo Prefecture, Japan
The company was founded in Japan in 1931 and employs 144,000 people worldwide. For the first nine months of the fiscal year (end of June 2024), CEO Shuchi Ishibashi (70) reported an operating profit of $740 million. A year earlier it was $830 million. Business is currently doing best in the USA, it was said, but Europe was also stable.
The founding family is not only active in the management, but is still involved Bridgestone invested
– about the Ishibashi Foundation and about Hiroshi Ishibashi (78), the grandson of Bridgestone founder Shojiro Ishibashi. The trust and investment bank “The Master Trust Bank of Japan” is also a large shareholder.
3. Goodyear
Total sales in 2023: 18.16 billion eurosWith tires only: 18.16 billion eurosHeadquarters: Akron, Ohio, USA
The company is undergoing restructuring. In order to minimize costs, Goodyear had already announced in 2023 that it would slim down the portfolio. This summer there was news that the company was selling its so-called off-the-road tire business to the Japanese company Yokohama. Cost: $905 million. The restructuring also affects the chemicals division and the Dunlop brand, which is to be sold. There is already an interested party. Earlier this year, Goodyear put former Stellantis executive Mark Stewart at the helm.
99 percent of Goodyear shares are in free float. The company’s largest shareholder is the Vanguard investment group with a stake of around 20 percent.
4.Continental
Sales in 2023: 41.42 billion eurosOnly with tires: 13.96 billion eurosHeadquarters: Hanover, Germany
With its WinterContact TS 870, the Hanover-based company scores highly in tests by ADAC and others. But Continental is feeling the crisis in the automotive industry hard. In the summer the company announced to examine and prepare an IPO of the entire automotive division “in detail”.. Conti’s weak car division is slowing down its strong tire division. In the first quarter alone, the tire division made a profit of 374 million euros on sales of around 3.3 billion euros, while the car division left the quarter with a loss of 255 million euros. You can find out more about the project and current developments about Continental here.
The main shareholder of Continental is the family Schaeffler, which in current ranking of the richest Germans by manager magazine
ranked 25th.
5. Pirelli
Sales in 2023: 6.65 billion eurosWith tires only: 6.65 billion eurosHeadquarters: Milan, Italy
The Italian tire manufacturer was founded in 1872 by Giovanni Battista Pirelli as a rubber goods factory. The company now operates worldwide. In the first half of 2024, Pirelli had sales of 3.45 billion euros, and earnings before taxes were 466.6 million euros. For 2024, the tire manufacturer expects sales of between 6.6 and 6.8 billion euros.
Pirelli has been in Chinese hands for several years. Various Chinese investment companies hold the largest share of the Italians at 37 percent. 34.2 percent of the shares are in free float and 22.8 percent are held by Marco Tronchetti Provera, the company’s CEO and son-in-law of a Pirelli heiress.
6. Sumitomo Rubber Industries
Total sales in 2023: 7.53 billion eurosWith tires only: 6.43 billion eurosHeadquarters: Kobe, Japan
The name gives it away: Sumitomo also comes from Japan. The company produces tires under the brand names Dunlop and Falken. Sumitomo Rubber Industries was founded in 1909 by the Sumitomo Group and Dunlop. In addition to car tires, the Sumitomo Group also produces tennis balls, golf balls and rackets as well as other accessories; The production of cables is also part of the portfolio.
More on the topic
Sumitomo once produced and marketed Dunlop brand tires in a joint venture with Goodyear. Goodyear paid Sumitomo $271 million in 2015 to end the joint venture; the businesses were divided. In the spring of this year, Sumitomo CEO Satoru Yamamoto (66) said he wanted to buy the Dunlop rights for Europe and the USA from Goodyear. It is not yet certain whether the deal will go through.
The Sumitomo Group owns more than 31 percent of the shares through various investments. Various investors are also involved, with the London-based company Silchester International Investors holding a further large share of just over 12 percent.
7. Hankook
Sales in 2023: 6.24 billion eurosWith tires only: 6.24 billion eurosHeadquarters: Seoul, South Korea
The tire manufacturer, founded in 1941, is regularly represented in ADAC and Stiftung Warentest tire tests. Hankook has in the past Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes equipped with tires for the original equipment of various models. Racing is also an issue; Hankook has been a tire supplier for the DTM series since 2011. In Europe, the Koreans operate a tire factory in Hungary.
Last year, Hankook achieved its best result since its inception. Sales amounted to 6.33 billion euros and operating profit was around 940.1 million euros. The business was driven by its “Ion” product series, which was specially designed for electric cars. In May, the company announced that it wanted to take over 50 percent of the shares in car air conditioning specialist Hanon Systems.
8. Yokohama Rubber
Sales in 2023: 6.30 billion eurosWith tires only: 5.6 billion eurosHeadquarters: Tokyo, Japan
Yokohama Rubber’s history dates back to 1917. Yokohama Cable Manufacturing and B.F. Goodrich Company founded the company and sold their tires under the Goodrich brand until the 1930s, and later under Yokohama.
In addition to Japan, plants were built in China, Singapore and later also in the USA. Goodrich sold his stake in Yokohama in the 1980s. In 2016, Yokohama Rubber took over the off-road tire specialist Alliance Tire Group (ATG) from the investment company KKR. The company, which was the jersey sponsor of Chelsea FC for five years, announced this summer that it would take over Goodyear’s off-the-road tire (OTR) division. Goodyear’s OTR business had sales of about $678 million in 2023. Yokohama expects the area to have high growth potential.
9. ZC Rubber
Sales in 2023: 4.46 billion eurosWith tires only: 4.46 billion eurosHeadquarters: Hangzhou, China
The Chinese tire manufacturer ZC Rubber wants to conquer the European market. Goodride and Westlake are among the brands of the company, which for a long time had the place where it was founded in its name: Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber. In 2012, ZC Rubber became the Chinese market leader and expanded abroad in 2013. Branches opened in the USA, Thailand, Brazil and Hanover. In 2019, ZC Rubber entered the top ten largest tire manufacturers worldwide for the first time – in ninth place. Its tires can be found as original equipment on hybrid cars BYD. A new plant is planned in Mexico and one is scheduled to open in Indonesia this year. The Chinese also agreed a marketing deal with Arsenal FC in December 2023. Goal: increase awareness in Europe.
10. Sailun Group
Sales in 2023: 3.31 billion eurosWith tires only: 3.31 billion eurosHeadquarters: Qingdao, China
The Sailun Group is probably the youngest company in the top ten largest tire manufacturers: it was founded in Qiangdao in 2002. With four plants in northern China, two in Vietnam and one plant in Cambodia, the Sailun Group serves the automotive market worldwide. The BYD electric SUV, the Yuan Plus, comes with Sailun tires as standard equipment. The company is considered by experts to be the fastest growing tire brand in the world. Sailun recently celebrated its latest collaboration with Mexican tire retailer Tire Direct. The main shareholder is founder and CEO Yuan Zhongxue (69), who holds more than 20 percent of the shares.