AKRON, Ohio, Sept. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Goodyear
Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT) announced today that it
has agreed to acquire Ventech Systems GmbH, a leader in automated
tire inspection technology, from Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH.
Ventech Systems (https://ventech.de/en), based in Dorsten,
Germany, delivers innovative
measuring devices for the vehicle industry. The company was founded
in 2006. It provides a fully-automated tire inspection system that
quickly and easily checks tire pressure, tread depth and vehicle
weight for buses, trucks, cars and other vehicles.
"Over the past three years, our Goodyear Proactive Solutions
business has collaborated with Ventech Systems to integrate its
data gathering and analysis capabilities into our fleet management
solution," said Christopher Helsel,
Goodyear vice president and chief technology officer. "Feedback
from our fleet customers has been excellent, and we view this as an
important opportunity to enhance our service and value proposition
for customers."
"Goodyear and Ventech Systems are both companies founded and
driven by innovation," said Andreas
Pietsch, Ventech Systems chief operating officer and
business manager. "Goodyear's strong market presence enables
additional worldwide growth opportunities for Ventech Systems. We
are excited to support Goodyear's fleet customers with our unique
technology in terms of process optimization, business efficiency
and road safety."
Truck tire care and maintenance is one of the largest
contributors to commercial fleet uptime and total cost of
operations. Last year, Goodyear launched Goodyear Proactive
Solutions in the Europe,
Middle East and Africa region to provide a full suite of
demonstrated Vehicle-To-Fleet operations management solutions
supporting fleet owners to improve vehicle and fleet safety,
decrease fuel use, reduce their carbon footprint and support the
digital transformation of their fleet.
The acquisition of Ventech Systems will further expand Goodyear
Proactive Solutions' commercial offerings with an efficient,
user-friendly closed loop service enabling fleet operators to
measure tire pressure, tread depth and vehicle weight on all their
vehicles each time they enter or exit their depot.
In addition to its Goodyear Proactive Solutions mobile
tire/fleet management offerings, Goodyear is also working with
automakers to provide tire information to vehicle control systems
to enhance safety and performance. Earlier this month it announced
that it is equipping Tesloop, a city-to-city mobility service that
exclusively uses Tesla electric vehicles, with wireless sensors in
its tires to improve overall tire management and maximize uptime
for its growing fleet.
The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The
business and technology will be integrated into the company's
Goodyear Proactive Solutions business.
Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire companies. It
employs about 65,000 people and manufactures its products in 47
facilities in 21 countries around the world. Its two Innovation
Centers in Akron, Ohio and
Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg strive to
develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the
technology and performance standard for the industry. For more
information about Goodyear and its products, go to
www.goodyear.com/corporate. GT-FN
Certain information contained in this press release
constitutes forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe
harbor provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
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our control, that affect our operations, performance, business
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SOURCE The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company