Running Ahead

For most of the nation's leading tiremakers, 1967 was a wobbly year. Lagging auto sales caused Detroit to cut back on tire orders; a United Rubber Workers' strike shut down several companies for more than two months. The major exception was Akron's Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., which settled its strike in two weeks--and next month will announce record 1967 sales of about $2.6 billion (up from $2.5 billion in 1966) and profits of $128 million (up by nearly $10 million). This enabled Goodyear to further entrench itself in its 51-year-old position as the world's leading producer in its field.

Five Minutes a Year. A prime reason for Goodyear's historic success has been innovation--or, as Chairman Russell DeYoung puts it, "You can reflect on past glories for five minutes each year, then forget it." Goodyear's firsts include the rayon cord tire in 1938, the nylon cord in 1947 and the polyester cord in 1962. Last week the company's latest creation was introduced: a polyester and fiber-glass tire, which will be sold as a replacement for original equipment tires and is said by the company to have twice their lifetime. More expensive than the originals ($51 v. $34), the "Polyglas" brand will hit the market at the time tire replacements are being sought for cars acquired during the 1965-1966 sales boom.

Tires are the biggest factor in Goodyear's business, and they now account for 60% of the company's output. A wide range of 30,000 other items, including chemicals, flooring and shoe products, is enjoying brisk sales. Goodyear's aviation division is the leading supplier of rubber fuel tanks for aircraft; the company's aerospace division turns out nonmetallic, lightweight armor for helicopter crews in Viet Nam.

DeYoung for the Young. Very much in charge of Goodyear is Russell DeYoung, 58, who became chairman four years ago after six years as president. He neither smokes nor drinks, otherwise keeps in shape by taking a quick 50-lap swim in his homeside pool every night. He needs all the stamina he can muster. In Akron alone, Goodyear stretches five miles, which makes his regular inspection a hearty workout. He also goes abroad several times a year and logs 2,000 miles a week visiting Goodyear's 50 other domestic plants.

In his own Akron office, DeYoung scans a series of statistical logs for the big picture. A few years ago, he saw in his statistics that Goodyear tires were losing popularity among the young sports-car set. His answer was to get the company back into racing after a 40-year lapse; in 1967 Goodyear tires were on winning cars at the Indianapolis, Le Mans and Grand Prix championship races, all of which cost a cool $5,000,000. DeYoung thinks it was worth it. "The younger generation likes it," says he, "and we get an opportunity to test ourselves against competitors. And hell, I like fast cars."

He does indeed. Although in many ways a most conservative man, his personal car is a supercharged Ford Mustang capable of speeds exceeding 150 m.p.h. And he likes nothing more than to take a test car out onto his company's San Angelo, Texas, test track just to see how fast it really will go.

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