Yokohama Rubber Company
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Native name | 横浜ゴム株式会社 |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Yokohama Gomu Kabushiki gaisha |
Company type | Public K.K. |
| TYO: 5101 | |
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Founded | October 13, 1917 |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Masataka Yamaishi (President, Chairman of the Board) |
| Products | Tires, rims, golf equipment, industrial rubber products |
| Brands |
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| Revenue |  US$5.93 billion (2022) |
| US$483.69 million (2022) | |
| US$325.38 million (2022) | |
Number of employees | 27,222 (as of December 2021) |
| Website | www.y-yokohama.com www.yokohamatire.com |
The Yokohama Rubber Company, Limited (横浜ゴム株式会社, Yokohama Gomu Kabushiki gaisha) is a Japanese manufacturing company based in Hiratsuka, Japan.[1] The company was founded and began on October 13, 1917, in a joint venture between Yokohama Cable Manufacturing and BFGoodrich. In 1969, the company expanded to the United States as Yokohama Tire Corporation. It primarily produces tires, rims, and golf equipment (sold under the brand PRGR).
The company has two manufacturing facilities in the United States: one in Salem, Virginia, and another in West Point, Mississippi.[2]
History
- 1917 – Established in Yokohama as 橫濱護謨製造株式會社 (Yokohama Rubber Manufacturing Co., Ltd.), a joint venture between 橫濱電線製造 (Yokohama Electric Cable Manufacturing Company, currently Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.) and BF Goodrich Company.[3]
- 1920 – Built a factory in Hiranuma, Yokohama. Installed US-made refining equipment and manufacturing equipment. Started manufacturing rubber belts, tires, hoses, etc.[3] (At this time, tires of this company are sold in Japan under the "Goodrich" brand)
- 1929 – Built a new Yokohama Factory in Heian-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama.[3]
- 1937 – Changed the tire brand to "Yokohama".[3]
- 1942 – Built a rubber factory in Singapore.[3]
- 1943 – Built a factory in Mie prefecture.[3]
- 1946 – Built a factory in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture.[3]
- 1950 – Stocks listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Osaka Securities Exchange.
- 1963 – Company name changed from 横浜護謨製造株式会社 (Yokohama Rubber Manufacturing Co., Ltd.) to 横浜ゴム株式会社(Yokohama Rubber Company, Limited).[3]
- 1964 – Built a factory in Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture.[3]
- 1969 – Established Yokohama Tire Corporation in the United States.[3]
- 1974 – Launched the Yokohama Wheel brand.[4]
- 1981 - BFGoodrich sells all shares in Yokohama.
- 1983 - Launched Performance Y logo for the Yokohama Performance Radials and PRGR ranges; later became corporate logo.
- 1983 - Launched the PRGR brand of golf equipment.
- 2007 – Established Yokohama India.[3]
- In 2016 Yokohama Rubber acquired farm tire maker Alliance Tire Group for $1.18 billion.[5]
- On March 25, 2022, Yokohama Rubber announced it would be acquiring Trelleborg Wheel Systems from Trelleborg for 2.1 billion euro ($2.31 billion), its largest acquisition to date.[5]
2025 Mishima androcide attack
| 2025 Mishima androcide attack | |
|---|---|
| Location | 35°06′39″N 138°55′31″E / 35.110713958740234°N 138.9251708984375°E 8-1 Minamifutsukamachi, Mishima, Shizuoka 411-0832, Japan |
| Date | December 26, 2025 16:25 (JST) |
| Target | Mishima Yokohama Rubber Company facility |
Attack type | Stabbing, androcide, sarin attack |
| Weapon | Survival knife, Bleach |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Injured | 15 |
| Victims | 15 |
| Perpetrator | Masaki Oyama |
| Motive | Revenge after being harassed by his male co-workers |
On December 26, 2025, a 38-year-old man wearing a gas mask stabbed and wounded eight male workers at the Yokohama Rubber facility in Mishima, and injured seven other men in a bleach chemical attack.[6][7] Officials at the Asahi Shimbun investigated that the man had ties to the factory and was a former employee at the plant. He was arrested and charged with a dozen counts of attempted murder.[8] All of the male victims ranged in age from 20 to 60, and out of the fifteen men injured, five of the male victims were taken to nearby hospitals in critical condition but all survived.[9]
The former employee was later identified as Masaki Oyama of Mishima (born 1987), who had lived nearly 1,400 ft (0.27 miles) from the plant since November 2020.[10] During an interview, police confirmed that Oyama wielded a survival knife in the attack, indicating that he had a strong intention to kill all the men in the plant after being harassed at his job, ruling the attack as attempted androcide.[11][12] Two days after the attack, Oyama was indicted on attempted murder on one of the victims, a 28-year-old male employee, with a similar knife-looking object at the same plant.[13]
Tires
Yokohama Tire Company develops a range of tires for passenger vehicles, crossover utility vehicles (CUVs), sport utility vehicles (SUVs), electric vehicles, commercial trucks, motorsport applications, and off-road use. The company organizes its consumer tire portfolio into several product families designed for different driving conditions and vehicle types.[14]
ADVAN
The ADVAN family is the company’s performance-oriented tire line. It includes summer tires and all-season tires intended for sports cars, luxury sedans, and high-performance vehicles.[15] ADVAN tires are designed to provide handling precision, cornering stability, and high-speed capability. Products in this line have been used in various forms of motorsport, including grand touring (GT) racing and time attack events, and are also supplied as original equipment on some performance vehicles.[16][17]
GEOLANDAR
The GEOLANDAR family is designed primarily for SUVs, pickup trucks, and crossover vehicles.[18] It includes tires suited for all-terrain, mud-terrain, and highway-terrain use, supporting driving on surfaces such as dirt, gravel, and mixed on- and off-road conditions.[19]
AVID
The AVID family consists of all-season touring tires for passenger vehicles, including sedans, compact cars, and CUVs. The line includes products intended for general driving conditions, with characteristics such as tread durability, ride comfort, and performance in dry and wet conditions.[20]
Commercial and industrial tire lines
The company also produces tires for commercial and industrial applications, including trucks, buses, and specialized equipment. These tires are designed for uses such as long-haul transportation, regional distribution, construction, and port operations, with emphasis on durability, tread longevity, and retreadability.[21]
Wheels
Under the Yokohama Wheel brand Almex, Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. began making rims in 1974.[4] The Yokohama Wheel brand currently produces the Advan Racing wheel brand for performance and motorsport applications, the AVS brand for premium applications, and the Kreutzer brand for luxury applications.[22]
Motorsports
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Yokohama is the official tire supplier of the Super Formula Championship since 2016.[23] It was the official tire supplier of the Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 race from 1983 until 2019, with an exception in 2016, when Pirelli was chosen for the tire supplier that year.[24] The company was the supplier of the World Touring Car Championship and World Touring Car Cup from 2006 until 2019.
In the United States, Yokohama was a tire supplier in the American Le Mans Series, including PTG (from 2005 to 2009) and Alex Job Racing. It was the official tire supplier of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge.[25] It has also participated in Red Line Time Attack, Nitro Rallycross and Stadium Super Trucks.[26]
In September 2025, Yokohama was announced as the official tire supplier for the FIA Extreme H World Cup and will use a prototype tire based on the GEOLANDAR X-AT.[27]
Sponsorship
From 2015 to 2020, Yokohama was the main sponsor of Premier League football club Chelsea.[28] Yokohama also sponsors the NBA teams the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs.[29]
Logos
The Yokohama Rubber logo was first displayed in the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun newspaper in 1917. The company used it until 1987. In 1983, Yokohama launched the "Performance Y" logo for its Yokohama Performance Radials series, which became its corporate logo in 1987. A similar style logo is used by the Taiwanese tire company Nankang Rubber Tire.[30]
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Yokohama Tire company logo through 1987 -
Yokohama Tire "Performance Y" since 1983 on tires, since 1987 as corporate logo -
Nankang Rubber Tire logo -
References
- ^ "Yokohama Rubber Co to buy Alliance Tire Group for $1.2 billion". The Economic Times. March 26, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
- ^ "Made in the USA". Yokohama Tire Corporation. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "沿革". 横浜ゴム株式会社/The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. Archived from the original on February 3, 2024, "Company History". The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. Archived from the original on January 16, 2024.
- ^ a b "Yokohama Wheel". yokohamawheel.jp. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ a b Shizuka Tanabe (March 26, 2022). "Yokohama Rubber pursues biggest acquisition with $2.3bn Trelleborg deal". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved March 26, 2022.
- ^ "At least 15 injured in a knife and chemical attack at a factory in Japan". NBC News. December 27, 2025. Retrieved December 27, 2025.
- ^ "At least 15 injured in a knife and chemical attack at a factory in Japan". ABC News. December 27, 2025. Retrieved December 27, 2025.
- ^ "15 injured after stabbing spree at Shizuoka tire factory". The Japan Times. December 26, 2025. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
- ^ "Stabbing and chemical liquid attack in Japan tire factory injures 15". CBS News. December 26, 2025. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
- ^ "Ex-employee arrested in attack on 15 workers at plant". Asahi. December 27, 2025. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
- ^ "Man arrested over attack at Japan rubber factory previously worked there". KyodoNews. December 27, 2025. Retrieved December 26, 2025.
- ^ "Japan police arrest man over stabbing spree, 15 people injured". NHK World-Japan. December 27, 2025. Archived from the original on December 26, 2025. Retrieved December 27, 2025.
- ^ ""I was being harassed at work" said Masaki Koyama, the suspect who stabbed 15 people at the Yokohama Rubber Mishima Factory in Shizuoka". Tokyo Broadcasting System. December 28, 2025. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
- ^ "Inside Yokohama's Strategy That Drove Sales Past ¥1 Trillion". Tire Review Magazine.
- ^ "Yokohama launches Advan Sport EV A/S in America". Tyrepress. January 8, 2024.
- ^ Hinton, Christian (April 8, 2026). "Yokohama Outlines 2026 Motorsports Program". Tire Review Magazine.
- ^ Hinton, Christian (April 8, 2026). "Yokohama Outlines 2026 Motorsports Program". Tire Review Magazine.
- ^ "Yokohama USA launches Geolandar A/T XD pickup truck tyre". Tyrepress. March 21, 2023.
- ^ "Yokohama Rubber to Supply a GEOLANDAR Tire as the Official Tire for the New FIA Extreme H World Cup, the World's First Hydrogen Motorsport". Traction News. September 26, 2025.
- ^ "Yokohama Avid Ascend Tire with Orange Oil - Web Exclusive". MotorTrend. February 28, 2012.
- ^ "Yokohama Rubber's BluEarth 711L Tire Wins New Factory Fitment". Traction News. July 29, 2025.
- ^ "Yokohama Wheel | All Brand List". www.yokohamawheel.jp. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ "Super Formula Series Outline". Super Formula. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017.
- ^ "Yokohama Joins Macau Grand Prix 2009". Yokohama Tires. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
- ^ "IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohoma". imsachallenge.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2011.
- ^ "Yokohama Tire Corporation Onboard as Stadium SUPER Trucks Series Sponsor". Yokohama Rubber Company. April 4, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
- ^ Wilde, Dominik (September 11, 2025). "Yokohama signs on as Extreme E/Extreme H official tire supplier". RACER. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
- ^ "Yokohama Rubber to become Official Shirt Partner". Chelsea Football Club. February 27, 2015. Archived from the original on July 3, 2017.
- ^ "Yokohama continues NBA sponsorships". Modern Tire Dealer. December 30, 2008. Archived from the original on August 18, 2022.
- ^ "About Yokohama Tires". Autoset. Retrieved November 11, 2020.
External links
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