Goodyear Goes Flat-Out To Deal With Flat Tires
31 July 1997
Goodyear Goes Flat-Out To Deal With Flat TiresPUTNAM PARK, Ind., July 31 -- The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced plans today to start aggressively converting all of its replacement tire production capacity to manufacture extended mobility tire (EMT) versions of its broad market passenger car tires -- eliminating the need to carry or change spare tires. "Goodyear continues to respond to consumer concerns about their tire's performance capabilities and today we aren't just taking a step to answer their desires -- we're taking a giant leap," said Sam Gibara, chairman and CEO of America's largest tire and rubber company. "The stories of someone standing in the rain changing a flat tire ultimately will be told by our generation to a disbelieving youth." Goodyear plans to produce seven sizes of its Eagle LS-EMT in early 1998 in addition to eight high-performance EMT's in replacement sizes. Eventual conversion of tire manufacturing capacity in other passenger tire lines will be scheduled to cover the most popular sizes first. The initial phase of conversion will cover 75 percent of the passenger sedans and minivans on the road today. "The conversion of manufacturing capacity to EMT construction is being made possible by a revolutionary breakthrough in tire component, design and manufacturing technology," said Gibara. "Goodyear pioneered the evolution of EMT systems in 1992 with successful fitment as an option on the 1994 Chevrolet Corvette," said Gibara. "Since then the program evolved to include the 1997 Plymouth Prowler and, thanks in part to the tire's reliability, the OEM's did away with the spare tires and tire changing equipment in those two vehicles. "The achievement of developing an affordable easily retrofittable EMT tire for consumers is made even more important as Goodyear stands on the eve of its hundredth anniversary, preparing to step into the next hundred years of its technological leadership in the tire industry." The Corvette and Prowler use a low-pressure sensor system to alert drivers when an EMT tire is losing air or has gone flat because Goodyear's EMT performs so similar at zero pressure, compared to fully inflated, drivers might drive on it until it wasn't repairable. Goodyear is working with a low-pressure sensor system supplier to market a compatible affordable system for the replacement market EMTs. The Eagle LS-EMT will be priced ten to twenty percent above a standard radial tire, depending on size, and is designed to travel 50 miles at 55 mph and still be repairable. SOURCE Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company