Titan to supply 'Goodyear Farm Tires' radials in Europe

Kidderminster, UK – Goodyear Farm Tires – a brand-entity introduced by Titan Inc. following its 2015 acquisition of a licence* to manufacture and supply Goodyear branded agricultural tires in Europe and elsewhere – has announced a significant capacity expansion plan.

In a recent statement, Goodyear Farm Tires said that it will supply radial tires to UK and European farmers in 2022 from a production facility in Turkey.

Goodyear Farm Tires has predominately produced bias tires in Turkey but said it will now set up a specific plant for radial tires to supply locally to farmers in the region.

“This is a significant development in our offering to farmers in the UK and across Europe,” explained Lindsay Hart, European sales director, Goodyear Farm Tires. 

The company, she said, previously received most radial tires from manufacturing facilities in North America, South America and Russia.

The new production capacity, Hart went on to say, is particularly important as the Covid pandemic and other issues are affecting supply.

“Customers have suffered shortages in the provision of agricultural tires from all major manufacturers over the last 12 months,” she stated “Titan has made this strategic move partly in response to those issues.”

By February, Hart expects Goodyear Farm Tires to offer “shortened lead times, swifter distribution, and improved stock and product availability.”

To manufacture the tires, subsidiary Titan Asia works with a third-party manufacturer in Turkey, said a company spokesman in a 12 Jan written statement to ERJ. 

The manufacturer utilises the original tire moulds, which were part of the assets acquired in 2015, along with some new radial moulds. 

The plan, said the spokesman, is to produce 125,000 units of tires during 2022, of which 30% will be radials. 

Initially, 20 key radial sizes for the UK and European market will be produced from the site, with that figure set to double by the yearend.

*Titan’s licence deal, which covers Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and other C IS states, followed its purchase, in 2005, of Goodyear’s North American farm tire assets, includes its Freeport, Illinois plant, in 2005 and Latin American farm tire operation in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2011.