Interview with Ron Castro, Goodyear Marketing Director

This morning, I sat down and talked with Ron Castro, Marketing Director for Goodyear Philippines. Ron was a great guy to interview, and offered many useful insights into tires, business in the Philippines and other topics. Although Ron has only been with Goodyear for about 5 months now, he displayed a lot of knowledge about the tire business, as well about the operations of Goodyear Philippines.

Currently, Goodyear is celebrating it’s 50th Year of Operation in the Philippines, with their theme being “50 Years of Life’s Journeys”. If you think about it, that is really a good name for the celebration, because on so many journeys that we all take, we are riding on Goodyear tires!

I asked Ron if Goodyear sourced raw materials locally in the Philippines, and he assured me that raw materials are sourced directly from Mindanao in many cases! With the growth of the rubber industry in Mindanao, I am sure that an even larger amount of raw materials can be sourced from Mindanao in coming years.

One thing that it was obvious that Ron really believed in was a policy of “Buy Filipino” especially when it came to tires! Ron told me that recently, he was a guest on Straight Talk with Cito Beltran on the ABS-CBN News Channel. While guesting on the show, Cito made the point that if more people would just buy Filipino made products whenever possible, it would have a great impact on Philippine businesses, as well as the national economy as a whole. Ron really picked up on this point, and made it a central point in his personal habits. One of Cito Beltran’s hobbies is cars, and he has even begun doing some promotional work with Goodyear.

Goodyear has a major market share in the Philippines, with nearly one out of every two cars riding on Goodyear tires, according to Ron.

Goodyear’s Philippine operations actually go back further than 50 years, when Goodyear of Akron, Ohio first established a warehouse in the Philippines in 1919 for Asian tire distribution. Later, in 1928, Goodyear actually started growing rubber resources in Mindanao, in Kabalasan near Zamboanga. Goodyear’s first plant was built in 1956, using almost entirely local resources for production. Thus, this year is the 50th anniversary of Goodyear tire production in the Philippines. Among the first tires produced by Goodyear Philippines were designed for use by the Philippine Jeepney!

Over the years, Goodyear has provided tires for people ranging from the President of the Philippines to Pope John Paul II when he visited the Philippines.

Goodyear currently supplies 121 Duratrak Servitek and Tyre Pro stores around the country. They have five stores in Davao, and just opened their second store in General Santos City!

Thank you to Ron Castro for spending the time this morning to tell us about Goodyear’s Philippine operations, and especially about their relationship with Mindanao!