Goodyear cautious on Europe as EU tire tariff decision delayed

Akron, Ohio – Goodyear has warned of near-term uncertainty in the European tire market due to delays in the EU’s decision on potential tariffs on Chinese tire imports and despite margin improvements within its EMEA operations.

Speaking in a 10 Feb earnings call, CEO Mark Stewart said the postponement of the European Commission’s anti-dumping decision could allow additional imports to enter the market.

“With the extension of the timeline for a preliminary decision on antidumping tariffs in the EU, we're cautious on near-term conditions,” said Steward.

The delay, he said, provides “further opportunity for another round of low-end imports to make their way into the region.”

The Goodyear chief said EU anti-dumping duties, ranging 41% to 104%, are expected to be announced by July while an anti-subsidy probe is set for conclusion later this year.

The comments came as Goodyear’s fourth-quarter volumes in the EMEA declined 2% year-on-year. (ERJ report)

Despite the softer volumes, Goodyear reported improving profitability and continued gains in market share across the region.

“Our consumer OE volumes in EMEA extended their run on market share gains, growing share by roughly three percentage points,” Stewart said.

The company, said the group CEO, has now recorded “eight consecutive quarters of market share gains in the region.”

Operational performance also improved, supported by restructuring actions and internal efficiency measures.

“If I look at the underlying operations, we are making steady progress, with EMEA’s fourth-quarter SOI margin at the highest level in over three years,” Stewart said.

Goodyear also benefited from an insurance settlement during the quarter which supported cash generation.

Meanwhile, Goodyear said structural cost improvements are beginning to take effect following restructuring actions in the region.

“With two major factory restructuring actions completed in ’25, another underway in ’26, our cost base is seeing improvement,” Stewart said.

“As the industry works through elevated channel inventory from prebuy activity, we expect high utilisation of our consumer capacity in the region,” he concluded.