When it comes to brand positioning, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. is right where it wants to be, CEO Michael Graber tells MTD in this exclusive interview.
MTD: Can you bring us up to speed on Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.'s first half? What have been some of the company's challenges and accomplishments?
Graber: It’s a very difficult market, I think, for everybody. Our accomplishments (include) maintaining our market share in a difficult market. Tariffs and the overall economy are definitely dampening demand for tires and causing a tiering-down impact for a lot of consumer. May was very strong for us. We're optimistic for the rest of the year. It seems that business is coming back, and we're excited that things continue to trend that way for the rest of the down economy. In the (light truck) A/T (all-terrain) and M/T (mud-terrain) segments, we’re growing share so far this year.
MTD: What's your take on both the replacement PLT and replacement TBR markets in the U.S. at mid-year? What are seeing in the field? What are you hearing from your dealers?
Graber: I think fuel (prices) and economic impacts are having a softening effect on the replacement market. As I mentioned, consumers are tiering-down and dealers are managing their inventories very closely to conserve cash. We don’t really know what’s going to happen. It's definitely soft out there. We had a great year last year. We finished last year very strong. But as the calendar turned, it softened up. So it's a tough market. But as we all know, the tire market is cyclical and we’re optimistic it will come around soon - and TBR, as well. Diesel prices, as you know, are at record highs. Out here in California, it's close to $7 a gallon now. It's causing fleets to have to make different decisions on expenses like tires to make sure they can just survive the current situation.
MTD: When we last talked in November 2025, you mentioned that Toyo was making a $200 million investment at its plant in White, Ga. How is that initiative coming along? Are you now producing more premium-level products at that facility, as mentioned previously?
Graber: That's the intention and it's an ongoing thing. We’ve started renovating the White, Ga., plant. The plant opened in 2005 ... so we're using this additional capital to renovate and update the equipment with the intent to increase capacity at that factory and also we want to build as many U.S. premium products there, closer to the market. We opened an R&D center a couple of years ago at White. So we’re trying to use that plant to make high-quality, high-value tires for the U.S. market ... and further investment in White is underway.
MTD: You’ve mentioned that you believe Toyo has the right mix of TBR tire customers and that on the consumer side, Toyo wants to maintain a strong presence in tier-two. Can you elaborate?
Graber: A few years ago, we re-evaluated how we sell tires and we adopted a multi-channel strategy, where we have stable distribution in each channel. In TBR, we feel like we have a healthy mix of strong servicing dealers and wholesalers to cover the market and we’re leaning into those existing relationships to make sure we’re good partners with them. On the consumer side, out tier-two position is optimal for us, so we look to maintain to that as the market evolves. We really want to stay in tier-two and we feel like we best service our customers in that position.
MTD: How does Toyo define tier-two? Everyone seems to have a different definition. Is it premium technology at an attractive price point? Is it a combination of other things?
Graber: I think the way you described it is exactly how we see it – quality, innovation ... high-quality products at a lower price point. We’re never going to be majority market share at a major dealer, but more of a secondary product they can sell with confidence. And there’s consumer demand to bring people into the building to buy (our) tires. We (also) feel we’re tier-one in our Open Country (light truck tire) products and the demand we experience in those products gives credence to that view.
MTD: Does the continued consumer shift toward less-expensive, tier-three and tier-four PLT tires concern you or does it create opportunities for Toyo?
Graber: It creates opportunities as consumers reevaluate how they choose replacement tires. Our customers have been very loyal to our brand and are less inclined to tier-down to lesser products. Our customers ... continue to buy Toyo tires. We've insulated ourselves from that tiering-down effect.
MTD: There's been a lot of consolidation on the retail side and also in the wholesale-distribution channel. Does this change Toyo's long-term strategy in any way?
Graber: Not really. We’ve developed this multi-channel approach and mentality with an eye toward withstanding any market shocks, like consolidation. lSo it hasn’t changed our long term strategy at all. We think that developing loyal customers makes our products attractive to dealers. It helps us maintain our position when consolidation occurs.
MTD: What can we expect to see from Toyo during the rest of 2026?
Graber: We just launched the M165, which is our next-generation commercial van tire for last-mile delivery vehicles. This is designed more for the North American market. We also will be launching this summer the Proxes Sport R, which is our extreme performance tire. That should be coming here in June. Then we have a grand touring product that we’re launching later this year – probably August or September. We’ll have more of a broadline grand touring product. We really haven’t been in that market for the last couple of years, so we’re very excited about this. There will be a lot of SKUs. We’ll have a big product launch for that later this year.
We’re staying with our strategy. We’re confident. We expect (the market) to come back. Like I mentioned earlier, our May was extremely strong. I think people have figured out what they want to do, given the current situation, and orders are starting to come back. We’re excited. We’re optimistic about the rest of the year.
