Cooper Tire Sustains Q1 Loss Amid Pandemic Conditions

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company on Thursday reported a first quarter 2020 loss of $12 million.

The company had a net income of $7 million during the first quarter of 2019.

In response to the coronavirus, Cooper temporarily shut down its manufacturing plants for periods of time while continuing to operate its distribution centers around the globe.

The U.S., China and Serbia plants are back in operation and will continue to ramp up production as conditions improve.

The company’s U.K and Mexico facilities remain temporarily closed.

“Overall, we believe Cooper is in a good position to benefit when the economy recovers,” said President and CEO Brad Hughes

“Over the past two years, we have transformed our company into a consumer driven organization with Cooper products now more available where consumers want to buy tires. We believe that our value proposition — high quality tires at an affordable price — will be even more compelling for consumers in the future economy, and our heritage of manufacturing tires in the U.S. for U.S. drivers will become even more important coming out of this period of uncertainty. Our research suggests consumer confidence in the Cooper brand is growing, and we believe that we stand to be a consumer tire partner of choice.”