On November 9 local time, Goodyear announced in a statement that board member Roger Wood would take over as Interim CEO and President, while former CEO Mark Stewart immediately stepped down and left the board, and a headhunting agency is searching for a formal successor. This leadership change comes just five days after the third-quarter report was released.

Goodyear former CEO Mark Stewart

Two years and ten months, cumulative loss of approximately 15.8 billion RMB

Five days before the leadership change, Goodyear had just released its 2026 third-quarter report: revenue of $4.5 billion, down 2.3% year-over-year; net loss of $238 million.

The financial report shows the company had a net profit of $46 million in 2024, turned to a net loss of $1.721 billion in 2025 (including $1.5 billion deferred tax asset valuation allowance, $674 million goodwill impairment, and other non-cash items), and lost a cumulative $691 million in the first three quarters of 2026. The cumulative net loss since 2024 is approximately $2.366 billion (approximately 15.784 billion RMB). The adjusted net loss for the first three quarters of 2026 reached $320 million, indicating the issue is no longer just accounting impairment.

Notably, SEC filings list the nature of Stewart's departure as 'Termination Without Cause', which should not be simply understood as voluntary resignation.

Sold three business segments, closed multiple factories

Stewart assumed office on January 29, 2024, and his actions during the tenure focused on selling assets and cutting capacity: the off-highway tire business was sold to Yokohama Rubber for $905 million, Dunlop trademark rights were sold to Sumitomo Rubber for $735 million, and the chemical business was sold for $650 million. Total disposal income obtained in 2025 was approximately $2.3 billion used to repay debts; factories operating for decades in South Africa and Malaysia were closed, partial production stoppage at the German factory involving 1,171 positions. It is expected to save approximately $270 million in costs annually starting from 2028.

However, the operating profit margin failed to recover to the 10% target by the end of 2025. Fitch downgraded the rating from 'BB-' to 'B+'. The company's debt still exceeds $7 billion, and the stock price fell from a high of $21.90 in early 2022 to $4.36, a drop of approximately 80%.

30-year veteran temporarily takes over

New Interim CEO Roger Wood previously served as Co-CEO of Tenneco, with over 30 years of experience in the automotive manufacturing industry. Board Chair Joe Hinrichs stated that now is the right time to replace leadership and accelerate reform. Earlier, on October 27, Goodyear announced that the new CFO would take office on December 1. With both the CEO and CFO positions changing successively, the company is entering a new round of management restructuring.

Selling assets and cutting costs are just the first step. How to rebuild profitability and competitiveness after business contraction is the question the new management must answer.