From aftermarketNews.com Staff & Wire Reports

AKRON, OH — Addressing hundreds of people at an Akron, Ohio, Roundtable lunch last week, Robert Keegan, chairman, president and CEO of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., told attendees that Goodyear would bounce back from its recent financial hardships.

Keegan again outlined his “Seven Reasons to Believe,” a concept he originally introduced at Goodyear’s dealer meeting in February in Orlando, Fla. The seven reasons, he said, are: stronger leadership, reduced costs, improved dealer relations, new products, more emphasis on generating cash, a strong commitment to the brand, and improved service to customers and more accurate deliveries.

Keegan said Goodyear is making headway in some of those areas. The Goodyear brand, for example, remains strong, and was rated No. 1 for familiarity in a recent consumer survey in the Wall Street Journal, he said. Keegan also told attendees that Goodyear has overcome many challenges, such as negotiating a new three-year agreement with its largest union and restructuring its bank loans.

“While I would not dispute some of the struggles we’ve had from the financial perspective of late, the Goodyear brand is not broken in the minds of the tire consumer,” Keegan said.

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