Bridgestone retains top spot in Global Tire ranking

Akron, Ohio — For most of the world's major tire makers, 2018 was a flat year sales-wise, leading to another year of status quo at the top of the Global Tire Report ranking compiled by ERJ's sister publication Tire Business.

That means Japan's Bridgestone Corp. retained the title of world's largest tire maker for the 11th straight year, edging out France's Group Michelin again.

The tables very well could be reversed this year, however, based on the full-year consolidation of a pair of major acquisitions Michelin carried out in the past year: the $1.45 billion (€1.3 billion) buyout of off-road tire specialist Camoplast Ltd last year and the more recent $545 takeover of Indonesian tire maker P.T. Multistrada Arah Sarana TBK.

See full report in the Sept/Oct issue of European Rubber Journal magazine.