Michelin solidifies place at top of Global Tire Ranking

If 2020 was the global tire industry's "asterisk" year—due to COVID-19 and the associated global economic impact—2021 might be viewed as a statistical anomaly, gaining back all the revenue lost in 2020 and more, much more.

After sales revenue by the Top 75 global tire makers in 2020 dropped by more than 8 percent from 2019, sales by those same companies rebounded last year to the tune of nearly 13 percent more than 2020 and more than 6 percent more than the total from 2019.

With a few notable exceptions—Taiwanese tire makers Nankang Rubber Tire Corp. and Federal Corp., which suffered the ill effects of elevated U.S. import duties—the league of major tire makers rode rebounding economies around the world to high double-digit revenue growth in 2021 versus 2020.

Buoyed by the addition of seven months worth of sales from Cooper Tire & Rubber, Goodyear's revenue in 2021 jumped 41.9 percent over 2020. South Korea's Nexen Tire nearly matched that, however, at 41.5 percent, while Titan International—benefiting from a rebounding agricultural sector—was in the same league at 41.4-percent growth.

Topping the global tire makers' league last year was Michelin, for the third straight year, with estimated global tire-manufacturing revenue of $26.3 billion, topping No. 2 Bridgestone Corp.'s $22.2 billion.

Goodyear was third again, but thanks to the addition of the Cooper sales, was closer to the top two with 2021 revenue of $14.9 billion.

Continental A.G. and Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. stayed at Nos. 4 and 5, but Pirelli & C. S.p.A., on the strength of a 24-percent sales improvement, slipped back ahead of Hankook Tire & Technology Co. Ltd. for No. 6 on the ranking, despite Hankook's growth of nearly 11 percent.

Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. retained the No. 8 ranking with sales of $5.26 billion, ahead of China's Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd.

Considering Yokohama's pending acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems and the $1 billion-plus in revenue it's expected to bring, Yokohama will be on even footing with Hankook for the No. 7 spot after the fiscal 2023 year.

Cheng Shin Rubber/Maxxis International remained at No. 10 despite a sales gain of just 2 percent over 2020. Maxxis also was affected by the imposition of elevated import duties on passenger and light truck tires from Taiwan and Thailand.

For the annual Top 75 ranking, Rubber News rates the tire makers on their revenue from the sale of tires they have manufactured in order to achieve a more equitable apples-to-apples comparison.

Excluded are items such as third-party sales of steel cord, synthetic rubber or carbon black, as well as estimates for non-tire items such as auto-service-related revenue at company-owned retail stores.

Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear and Continental, for example, report hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars in revenue from their respective captive retail networks, which generate measurable shares of their revenue from automotive-service-related activities and sales of tire brands other than their own.

Rubber News' Top 50 North American rubber product makers ranking takes all of the rubber products tire makers make into account. On that list, also available through our data store, Bridgestone takes the No. 1 spot with Michelin at No. 2. 

The average operating income/sales revenue margin among 25 leading tire makers last year was 9.4 percent, up nearly two points versus fiscal 2020 and back nearly on par with 2019.

Two of the 25 companies tracked for this report reported operating losses last year—Kumho Tire Co. Inc. and Nankang Rubber—but that was more than offset by all the others that reported improved income for the year. See the chart on page 14 for details.

Looking ahead to the 2023 Global Tire Ranking, there is no significant merger/acquisition activity among the leading tire makers in 2021 that will affect the rankings.

Yokohama Rubber's pending acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems, however, will boost YRC's revenue by $1 billion or more once it's fully integrated. The deal is expected to be finalized before year-end, so Yokohama won't see the full impact of that acquisition until fiscal 2023.

Goodyear's position will be strengthened in next year's rankings, based on a full year of consolidation of Cooper Tire's business.

Besides being No. 1 worldwide in tire sales revenue, Michelin is the clear sales leader in Europe, where Bridgestone is No. 3 behind Continental A.G., according to Tire Business' analysis of the major companies' regional sales breakdowns.

Bridgestone remains the No. 1 tire company in Asia—its "home" market—as well as in North America.

Michelin appears to be the most well-balanced, with its sales spread more equally among the three major regions—Americas, Asia/Pacific and Europe—than its major competitors.

The analysis also shows how important North America is to multiple non-U.S.-based companies, including Bridgestone, which derives roughly 45 percent of its global tire business revenue there.

With its acquisition of Cooper, Goodyear has become much more North America-centric, with 55 percent or more of its global revenue from the region.

Other major tire makers that rely heavily on North America for their sales revenue include Toyo Tire Corp., which derives nearly 60 percent its tire from business in North America, while Hankook Tire and Nexen Tire generate nearly a third of their revenue there.

Thirty of the companies in the top 75 are from China, including three among the top 20—Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd. (No. 8), Linglong Group Co. Ltd. (No. 13) and Sailun Group Co. Ltd. (No. 14).

Other countries represented in the ranking are: India (seven companies); the U.S. (five); Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (four each); Italy and Turkey (three each); Iran, Russia and Vietnam (two each); and one each based in Argentina, Belarus, England, Finland, France, Germany, Pakistan, Singapore and Thailand.

Collectively, the top 10 tire companies accounted for $107 billion in world tire industry last year, based on Tire Business' number, or roughly 61 percent of the total, on par with the 2021 ranking.

The average sales per employee for the 24 publicly traded companies that provided employment data was $216,028, up 12.6 percent from the 2021 figure.

Nokian Tyres P.L.C. had the highest sales per employee at $412,228, ahead of Toyo Tire Corp. at $347,259 and Balkrishna Industries as $336,327.