And the World’s Largest Tire Manufacturer Is… Drumroll Please…

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It’s the perfect bar bet. Ask your bar mates what company is the world’s largest tire manufacturer.

Bridgestone? Nope. Guess again.

Michelin? Not even close.

Goodyear? Uhhhhh… No.

You’ll probably never guess, even though this company makes nearly 70% more tires than the number two manufacturer.

And it’s not like it’s a company you’ve never heard of; it is one of the world’s most iconic brands.

Here’s your first hint. It’s not an American company.

That didn’t help?

OK, second hint. Little kids probably know this brand as well as you do.

No, it’s not Disney; get serious.

Final hint. The company is based in Denmark.

Did that last hint give it away?

If you guessed Lego, then you are correct.

Here are some tire facts from Wikipedia:

Lego produced 318 million tires in 2011, making them the world’s largest tire manufacturer by number of units produced.

Here’s a chart that shows the top tire manufacturers, with Lego comfortably in first place:

Company Tires produced (2011)
Lego* 318 million
Bridgestone 190 million
Michelin 184 million
Goodyear 181 million

Here are some more fun facts about Lego:

  • The name ‘LEGO’ is an abbreviation of the two Danish words “leg godt”, meaning “play well”.
  • The LEGO Wheel was launched in 1962 after being worked on since 1958.
  • In 1999, the LEGO brick was named as one of the “Products of the Century” by Fortune Magazine.
  • The British Association of Toy Retailers named the LEGO brick “Toy of the Century” in 2000.
  • In February 2015, Lego replaced Ferrari as Brand Finance’s “world’s most powerful brand”.
  • Six bricks of 2 × 4 studs can be combined in 915,103,765 ways. (no wonder kids never get bored playing with Legos).
  • Lego bricks from 1958 still interlock with those made in the current time (software companies could learn a thing or two here).
  • Annual production of Lego bricks averages approximately 36 billion, or about 1140 elements per second. (In a normally growing economy, the U.S. brick industry manufactures approximately 9 billion “standard brick equivalents” per year.)
  • Only eighteen bricks out of every million fail to meet the standard required. Talk about quality control.

So not only is it the world’s largest tire manufacturer, it also makes the world’s greatest toy.

I hope you won that bar bet.

*update, from Lego’s Instagram page – apparently Lego is up to 700,000,000 tires per year. thank you to WordPress users Alex and ömer

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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27 thoughts on “And the World’s Largest Tire Manufacturer Is… Drumroll Please…”

  5. Pingback: Who is the largest tire manufacturer? – Trending Topics

  7. Thanks Jim. For reading my Spanish scribbles and for the info re tyres. Our eldest son lives in Denmark – wonder if he knows….will email. I love discovering new facts, and your fanciful, ever surprising stories Cheers. x!

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  8. The penny has just dropped that the tyres you’re talking about are the TOY ones Jim! Yep, we’ve visited Copenhagen, and yep the pastries are DIVINE. It’s very clean, people – especially the younger ones – are friendly, BUT it’s very expensive. A one course meal in a modest restaurant with just one drink each for four of us was €100! Here in Spain, the same fare would be €50!.But then, we are spoilt! Nevertheless, it was a most attractive place to visit, with plenty to do and see and you shouldn’t miss The Tivoli Gardens. Hugs x

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    1. Yea, the LEGO tire thing is sort of a trick question! Copenhagen is the place I want to go to; did not realize it was so expensive! I better start saving now! And thanks for the recommendation on the Gardens.

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  10. Interesting post. Never knew this about LEGO. Would have never contemplated the idea they manufactured tires. We call them tyre by the way. Maybe its a different spelling in the USA. 😉

    Loved your fascinating facts about LEGO. I had LEGO sets when I was a child. Really liked them. Still seems like a timeless toy. 🙂

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  11. My nephew was LEGO mad. He had a huge room just for the LEGOS in my brother’s house when he was a kid. Result? A degree in structural engineering from Georgia Tech.

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  12. According to the marketing survey, Bridgestone is the largest manufacturer in the world but you are right at that point. Some companies busy producing and increasing the number of their product or production instead of paid promotion. So i agree that Lego is producing a large number of product units.

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  13. The straightforward answer is Lego! Since 2006, Lego makes around 306 million elastic tires every year for its development pack toys. In 2010, this number was topped at 381 million tires, effectively beating any remaining tire makers. Despite the fact that Lego items are probably not going to fit a regular vehicle, they do fit all portrayals of a standard tire, though of the strong elastic assortment.

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