Goodyear manufactures tires for passenger vehicles, aviation, commercial trucks, military and police vehicles, motorcycles, recreational vehicles, race cars, and heavy off-road machinery. It also licenses the Goodyear brand to bicycle tire manufacturers, returning from a break in production between and Founded in by Frank Seiberling , the company was named after American Charles Goodyear β , inventor of vulcanized rubber.
The first Goodyear tires became popular because they were easily detachable and required little maintenance. Today, it is one of the most recognizable advertising icons in America. The company is the sole tire supplier for NASCAR series and the most successful tire supplier in Formula One history, with more starts, wins, and constructors' championships than any other tire supplier. Goodyear was the first global tire manufacturer to enter China when it invested in a tire manufacturing plant in Dalian in Goodyear was a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average between and The first Goodyear factory opened in Akron, Ohio, in The company originally manufactured bicycle and carriage tires, rubber horseshoe pads, and poker chips , and grew with the advent of the automobile.
In , Litchfield found land in the Phoenix area suitable for growing long-staple cotton, which was needed to reinforce its rubber in tires.
The 36, acres purchased were controlled by the Southwest Cotton Company, formed with Litchfield as president. This included land that would develop into the towns of Goodyear and Litchfield Park.
Over the next few decades, Goodyear grew to become a multinational corporation. It acquired their rival Kelly-Springfield Tire in Goodyear ranked 30th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.
