He tweeted “Don’t buy GOODYEAR TIRES - They announced a BAN ON MAGA HATS. Get better tires for far less!”
Unfortunately for Trump, Goodyear is an American company and its prime competitors are foreign, primarily Michelin (French), Bridgestone (Japanese) and Continental (German), which puts his stance at odds with his “America First” policy. It was also pointed out that the presidential limousine uses Goodyear tires, as do Secret Service vehicles.
This was triggered when an image from a corporate training event at Goodyear about the wearing of political attire was widely circulated. It deemed “Black Lives Matter” and LGBT pride symbols/clothing items acceptable while “Blue Lives Matter” and “MAGA” fell under the company’s zero tolerance policy.
Goodyear responded to the situation by issuing a statement saying that “the visual in question was not created or distributed by Goodyear corporate, nor was it part of a diversity training class” and that “to be clear on our longstanding corporate policy, Goodyear has zero tolerance for any form of harassment or discrimination”.
So how does America’s biggest tire manufacturer compare with its international competitors? Goodyear made just under $15 billion in revenue last year, ahead of Germany-based Continental’s $13 billion. It remains substantially lower than the world’s two largest tire manufacturers, however, with Japanese company Bridgestone posting $27.2 billion in revenue in 2019 while France’s Michelin has $26.6 billion.
When asked by a reporter about the Goodyear tires on the presidential limousine, Trump said he would change them if there was an alternative. It will be interesting to see if “The Beast” is fitted with Bridgestone, Michelin or Continental tires for its next public appearance.
