With headquarters in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper Tire has 60 manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical, and design facilities within its worldwide family of subsidiary companies, including the UK-based Avon Tyres brand, which produces tires for motorcycles, road cars, and race cars.

From 1960, the company was a publicly held corporation and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Goodyear in June 2021.

The earliest corporate lineage for Cooper Tire was the M and M Manufacturing Company, founded in 1914 in Akron, Ohio, by John F. Schaefer and Claude E. Hart, who were related by marriage.

They purchased The Giant Tire & Rubber Company of Akron, a tire-rebuilding business, in 1920, and in 1922 moved the business to Findlay, Ohio,[3] at a site at the intersection of Lima and Western avenues that is still occupied by Cooper Tire, adjacent to The Cooper Corporation facility.

In those early years of the brand's identification, the logo also included a banner proclaiming the tires' "armored-cord" construction.

During World War II, the company, known as Master Tire and Rubber, manufactured pontoons, landing boats, waterproof bags and camouflage items, inflatable barges, life jackets, and tank decoys, as well as tires, to supply the Allied forces.

The U.S. government recognized the company's contribution to the war effort in a 1945 ceremony bestowing the Army-Navy ‘E’ Award (for excellence).

Throughout their tenure, the Brewers set a tone for hands-on leadership, management mingling with workers, and taking care of them.

Dearborn, Michigan-based Standard Products produced sealing, plastic trim, and vibration-control systems for the automotive original-equipment industry worldwide.

[10] In December 2003, Cooper agreed to a joint venture with Kenda Rubber Industrial Company to construct a tire-manufacturing plant near Shanghai.

An Indian company named Apollo Tyres agreed to buy Cooper Tires for $2.5 billion on June 12, 2013.

[17] On December 30, 2013, Apollo pulled out of the deal because Cooper had not disclosed vital information about its lack of control over its Chinese business.

The Chinese plant went on an indefinite strike against the proposed acquisition, forcing Apollo to try to lower the $35-per-share bid in the original deal.

[27] On July 7, 2017, it was announced that Avon Tyres would be the primary kit sponsor for Championship side Derby County for the 2017/2018 season.