As is apparent at CES every year, today’s consumer and commercial vehicles are increasingly smart living rooms, offices and entertainment centers on wheels. But what about the actual wheels? They’re getting smarter, too, as shown by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.
Goodyear, some may be surprised to learn, is also a technology innovator. At 125 years old, the company has moved to the vehicle tech forefront, adding sensors and proprietary software to its advanced mobility portfolio. These capabilities demonstrate a degree of technical sophistication that differentiates it competitively while aligning it more closely with cutting-edge car manufacturers.
“No one expects a tire company to be at CES,” said Laura Duda, Goodyear SVP and chief communications officer. “What is a 125-year-old tire manufacturer doing here at CES? So, I think for us, it's all about an opportunity to position ourselves…as we see ourselves, which is not just a tire manufacturer. Certainly, we are that, and that will always be important, but we view that we are advancing mobility, and that's our purpose.”
This company is indeed advancing mobility. In 2024, Goodyear chose CES to announce the ElectricDrive™ 2, an all-season tire for EVs that counters consumer concerns about their tires’ durability, sustainability and performance on slick road surfaces. They also care about a quiet ride. Goodyear delivers on all these counts with grip and resilience tech, as well as the use of soybean oil and other sustainable materials in tire construction. Foam inserts in the tires muffle sound inside electric vehicles.
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We keep coming back to CES because it's a singular event. It's a convening of people and companies and organizations that can't really come together in any other way. So that's why we come, because of the uniqueness of the event and the layer upon layer of important stakeholders that are here.
Laura Duda
SVP and Chief Communications Officer, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
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Among the four partnerships Goodyear announced at CES, the alliance with ZF Group drew headlines for the companies’ cubiX SightLine, an offering that also earned Goodyear a CES 2024 Innovation Award. This alliance blends the Goodyear SightLine suite of smart tire tech with ZF cubiX control interlinks. The combined solution integrates tire behavior via sensors and software with in-car driving systems. The result is radically improved hazard detection and response to road conditions, tire wear and more. In addition to hydroplaning mitigation, the system’s benefits include improved vehicle responsiveness and stability.
CES audiences and media took note of Goodyear’s innovative abundance. “The first day alone at CES,” Duda said, “we secured 1.2 billion – that’s ‘billion’ with a ‘B’ – media impressions…We also have relationships that have been built…We’re meeting with everyone…and it never fails to pay dividends.”
The Goodyear presence and impact at CES extended beyond headlines and valuable connections. Company leaders also shared insights during sessions that included The Peak of EV and What's Next and, on the CES 2024 Startup Stage, Corporate Venture Capital: A Two-Way Street for Success.
At the booth, audiences competed for an opportunity to ride on the Goodyear Blimp which hovered above CES in the Las Vegas skies to showcase the company’s achievements in AI-enabled navigation, aerial photography, autonomous operation and other tech feats. As Duda pointed out, the iconic blimp is only deployed for special occasions that, in 2024, included CES, the most powerful tech event in the world.
“CES is absolutely unique,” Duda said. “This is a place where we can meet with a lot of stakeholders that you can't find anywhere else. We meet with startups, we meet with new mobility partners, we meet with our [OEM] customers. We're…surrounded by all of those folks. So it's an opportunity to engage in a way that you really can't do anywhere else. So CES and our technology brand are, I would say, inextricably intertwined.”