Where Are Cooper Tires Made And Who Owns The Brand?

When it comes to tires made for cars, trucks, and SUVs, only a few major brands dominate the market. For over 110 years, Cooper has regularly appeared among these major brands. The company began in earnest in 1914 when Akron, Ohio, relatives and business partners John F. Schaefer and Claude E. Hart decided to expand the scope of their tire repair business by purchasing the Giant Tire & Rubber Company.

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In 1917 they moved the business to Findlay, Ohio. Two years later, one of their investors—Cincinnati businessman Ira J. Cooper—founded The Cooper Corporation on a nearby property with the intention of making new tires. A few years later, the companies merged, and in 1926 Cooper established his famous credo, guaranteeing “good goods, fair play and fair dealing” to everyone who bought his company’s goods. Two decades later, the company was officially renamed The Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. Over the past decades, the brand has become one of the biggest names in the tire gameand the company currently operates several tire manufacturing facilities in the United States.

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Yes, Cooper Tires still makes tires in the United States, but given the sheer scale of its operations these days, it’s not surprising that its production has expanded beyond American borders. It is reported that Cooper currently also boasts production facilities in England and China.

If you want to be sure that your Coopers were made at the company’s plants in Ohio, Georgia, Arkansas or Mississippi, these tires must have a “Made in the USA” stamp on the sidewall. Whether your tires bear that seal or not, Cooper remains very much an American company, and its headquarters are still located in the same Findlay, Ohio, place where Ira J. Cooper and his partners laid the foundation for the company. as we know it.

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Of course, if you follow various events in the auto industry, you probably know that the company they founded as The Cooper Tire and Rubber Company in 1946 recently underwent a major change in ownership and is no longer a standalone player in the market. tire manufacturing business. In 2021, Ohio-based tire giant Goodyear acquired Cooper outright. The company did so at great cost, spending a reported $2.8 billion to bring Cooper Tire & Rubber Company on board.

The move was significant, to say the least, in the tire world: Goodyear expanded its already impressive portfolio of subsidiaries into a true industry giant. As of this writing, this portfolio also includes names such as Kelly and Mastercraft. Today, Goodyear even includes Dunlop in its assetsas well as a specialized tire plant named after. racing legend Mickey Thompson. As for Cooper, while longtime fans of the brand may lament its loss of independence, it seems more likely than not that Goodyear’s support will only help the tire company grow.

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