The Goodyear manufacturing facility in Medicine Hat has been closed since late March along with most of the tire-maker's plants around the world, as the company responds to the COVID-19 pandemic. Top corporate officials said Thursday they hope to bring all plants back online by the end of May. -- NEWS PHOTO COLLIN GALLANT
Goodyear hopes to open North American production facilities by the end of May, but senior officials say that will be rolled out according to market demand and operating restrictions due to the pandemic.
Much of the tire manufacturer’s global production facilities, including one that employs about 200 workers in Medicine Hat, were closed in late March as the coronavirus pandemic set in affecting consumer demand and trade.
The company’s first-quarter financial report, released Thursday, outlined that it lost US$619 million in the first three months of 2020.
“While this unprecedented crisis continues to disrupt our business plans and the broader automotive industry, I am confident that we will emerge from this crisis in a strong position,” chairman Richard Kramer stated in a release.
Consumer truck tires would be the first manufacturing category brought online, with others to follow, according to accompanying material.
Overall, unit sales dropped 18 per cent in the first three months of the year. That period ended on March 31, at which pandemic conditions were only weeks old.
Sales in the Americas, where 12 plants are currently idled, fell 11 per cent.
In mid-April the company announced temporary layoffs or salary reductions for 9,000 corporate staff, and “substantial salary reductions or deferrals for managers, directors, and senior administrators. The company suspended its dividend to shareholders.
Conditions appear to be recovering in Asia, officials stated. The company’s plant in Pulandian, China, is operating at full capacity and 95 per cent of the Chinese retail channels are open.
The company also officially announced it was engaging unionized staff at a facility in Alabama about a permanent closure.
