Goodyear Dunlop doubles revenues

Goodyear Dunlop Tires Romania, the Romanian importer and distributor of US tyre maker Goodyear, has reported a doubling of its turnover for last year. “We doubled our sales last year and reached one third of the tyre market,” says Rodrigo Mascarenhas, Goodyear’s chief executive for Central and Eastern Europe. According to data from Ministry of Finance website, Goodyear Dunlop Tires Romania made more than 11.5 million euros in turnover and net profits in excess of 600,000 euros for 2003, its first official year in business. “We will boost sales by approximately 30% this year,” added Octavian Velcan, Goodyear’s country manager for Romania. He says the growth pace of the company was faster than the overall market growth for tyres in Romania, which is estimated at some 7%. Goodyear’s growth in Romania was driven by the less developed segments, such as winter tyres, tyres for 4×4 vehicles and high-performance vehicles, company officials say, with the winter tyre market gaining around 50% last year. ZF