Lego tire

A Lego tire on a wheel.

A Lego tire is a rubber tire manufactured by the toy building block company The Lego Group for use on vehicles within their Lego building sets. The tires are available in a range of sizes depending on the application. Lego first began manufacturing tires in 1962 and included them in what would become their most popular set at the time. Previously, the only tire options for Lego users were either purchasing complete car kits from Lego, or building their own tires out of existing Lego blocks. Lego produced 381 million tires in 2011, making them the world's largest tire manufacturer by number of units produced.

History

Before Lego began manufacturing its own tires, it made "pre-molded mini cars"[1] in the early 1950s,[2] and users sometimes made their own,[1] fashioning eight Lego bricks into a wheel.[3] In 1962 tires were first made available as part of "set #400".[2][4] The set went on to become the most popular of Lego's line of products. The smallest Lego tire was produced in 1969 and was available in two sets that year. At 107 millimetres (4.2 inches) in diameter, the largest tire produced became available in 2000.[1]

Production

All tires (and wheels) for Lego products are manufactured by Lego, which has produced tires between 14.4 and 107 millimetres (0.57 and 4.21 inches) in diameter. In 2006 the Lego Group produced 15 billion individual pieces of Lego, which included 306 million tires.[5][6] By 2011 Lego's annual production was increased to 381 million, more than twice as many as any of the other tire companies, including Bridgestone, Michelin, and Goodyear.[4]

Company Tires produced (2011)
Lego 381 million
Bridgestone 190 million
Michelin 184 million
Goodyear 181 million

References

  1. 1 2 3 Terdiman, Daniel (4 April 2012). "Rolling, rolling, rolling: Lego, the world's biggest tire maker". CNET. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  2. 1 2 "The Good Oil: Sporting chance for smaller Z". New Zealand Herald. 13 April 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  3. ↑ "Lego viert 50e verjaardag als bandenproducent". Automobielmanagement.nl. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Shift of emphasis". Rubber World. 1 April 2012.
  5. ↑ Pisani, Joseph. "The Making of…a LEGO". Business Week. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  6. ↑ Bender, Jonathan (2010). Lego: A Love Story. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-470-40702-8.

External links

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