# Toyo Tires

Toyo Tire Corporation (TOYO TIRE（トーヨータイヤ）株式会社, TŌYŌ TAIYA Kabushiki-gaisha), commonly known as Toyo Tires, is a multinational tire and rubber products company based in Itami, Japan. The company owns and operates eight factories in Asia, North America, and Europe and distributes tires and automotive components through fourteen sales companies throughout the world.
Toyo Tires posted net sales of 497B Japanese yen for fiscal year 2022. It is the eleventh largest tire company in the world based on 2022 revenue.

## History

The company started in 1945. In 1966, the company expanded to the United States as Toyo Tire USA Corporation. In 1999, Nitto Tire North America was established.

## Timeline

| Date | Event |
| August 1945 | Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. is established |
| August 1947 | The first truck tire exported |
| July 1953 | The Itami Manufacturing Complex is opened |
| May 1956 | Ayabe Toyo Rubber Co., Ltd. is established |
| October 1959 | Toyo Soflan Co., Ltd. is established |
| December 1961 | The Central R&D Laboratories (now the Technical Research Center) is opened |
| 1963 | Car tires are exported to the United States for the first time |
| March 1964 | Chubu Soflan Kakoh Co., Ltd. (now Chubu Soflan Co., Ltd.) is established |
| September 1964 | The Hyogo Plant is opened |
| March 1965 | Tohoku Toyo Rubber Co., Ltd. (now the Sendai Plant) is established |
| July 1966 | Toyo Tire & Rubber becomes the first Japanese tire manufacturer to establish a U.S. subsidiary (Toyo Tire (U.S.A.) Corp.) |
| April 1971 | The Akashi Plant is opened |
| June 1971 | Toyo Giant Tire Co., Ltd (presently Nippon Giant Tire Co., Ltd) established |
| February 1974 | Toyo Tire & Rubber acquires a capital interest in Vaculug Australia Ltd. (now Toyo Tyre and Rubber Australia Ltd.) |
| March 1974 | Toyo Tire & Rubber acquires a capital interest in Fukushima Rubber Co., Ltd |
| April 1974 | The Soflan Technical Center is opened at the Hyogo Plant |
| July 1974 | T.G.K.Seals Co., Ltd. (now T.G.K. Co., Ltd.) is established |
| July 1974 | Tire Testing Course opened in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan—the first of its kind built by a Japanese tire manufacturer |
| September 1975 | Toyo Reifen GmbH established in Germany, Neuss |
| February 1979 | Toyo Tire & Rubber forms a comprehensive business partnership with Nitto Tire Co., Ltd |
| February 1979 | Ryoto Tire Co., Ltd. (now the Kuwana Plant) is established |
| March 1982 | Alliance agreement with Continental AG concluded |
| January 1982 | Toyo Tire Canada Inc. established |
| June 1983 | The Fukushima Plant is opened |
| April 1986 | The Automotive Parts Technical Center is opened |
| November 1986 | Nippon Giant Tire Co., Ltd. established.(J.V.company with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.) |
| March 1987 | New Pacific Industry Co., Ltd. is established as a joint venture with Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co., Ltd. In the Republic of China |
| August 1988 | Dynamic Simulation Optimized Contour Theory (DSOC) is announced as a new design theory for truck and bus tire |
| November 1988 | GTY Tire Company is established as a joint venture |
| October 1989 | The High-Polymer Processing Technology Center is opened at the Fukushima Plant |
| February 1990 | Toyo Banden Nederland B.V. established |
| January 1993 | Tire Testing Course opened in Saroma, Hokkaido |
| June 1993 | Toyo Rubber(Malaysia) Sdn.Bhd. established |
| July 1995 | The Tranpath MP minivan tire is launched as the first product in the Tranpath series |
| January 1996 | Toyo Tire & Rubber acquires a capital interest in Cheng Shin-Toyo Tire & Rubber (China) Co., Ltd |
| December 1998 | The Itami Manufacturing Complex is closed |
| September 1999 | Toyo Tire & Rubber forms a business partnership with Kinugawa Rubber Industrial Co., Ltd., |
| April 2000 | The East Japan Automotive Parts Technical Center is opened |
| December 2000 | T-Mode is announced as a new basic design systems for tires |
| February 2001 | Toyo Automotive Parts (U.S.A.), Inc. is established in Kentucky, U.S.A |
| November 2001 | The main building at the Toyo Technical Center is completed |
| August 2002 | Toyo Tire & Rubber acquires a capital interest in Cheng Shin-Petrel Tire (Xiamen) Co., Ltd. (China) |
| October 2002 | A major shopping mall, Diamond City Terrace, is opened on the site of the former Itami Manufacturing Complex |
| January 2003 | Toyo Tire (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. is established as a joint venture in Shanghai, China |
| May 2003 | Toyo Rubber Chemical & Industrial Products (HK) Limited is established in Hong Kong, China |
| June 2004 | Toyo Tire North America, Inc. is established in Bartow County, Georgia U.S.A., as a tire manufacturing base |
| September 2004 | Toyo Automotive Parts (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. is established in Guangzhou, China |

## Lines of business

Manufacturing and marketing of car tires, industrial rubber and synthetic resin products, soft and rigid polyurethane products, waterproof sheets, anti-vibration rubber for automotive parts, seat cushions, and sporting goods.

### Tire brands

* Toyo
* Nitto
* Silverstone

## Sponsorship

Toyo has sponsored off-road Trophy Truck drivers including Robby Gordon, Kyle LeDuc, BJ Baldwin, Tavo Vildósola, Gus Vildósola, Andy McMillin and Bryce Menzies. As well as rally and stunt driver Ken Block.
Meanwhile, Nitto has sponsored the King of the Hammers rock crawling race, and drifting drivers Vaughn Gittin (since 2013), Chelsea DeNofa (since 2017), Ryan Tuerck (since 2019), Fredric Aasbø (since 2020), and Adam LZ (since 2021).
The company has also sponsored the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts promotion from 2006 to 2008 and later since 2011.
Since 2012, the company has been sponsoring Toyo Tires F1600 Championship Series, an Ontario-based Formula Ford racing series.

## Gallery

* Formula Drift car with Toyo Tires in Long Beach, California
* A typical Toyo all terrain tire, the Toyo Open country A/T
* Proxes R39A, original equipment of Mazda 2 / Demio
* Robby Gordon's Toyo-sponsored truck at the 2018 Speed Energy Formula Off-Road
* Vaughn Gittin's Nitto-sponsored car at a 2013 drifting event