Better sales of high-end tires are boding well for Akron's Goodyear.

At a Detroit auto conference Thursday, Goodyear chief financial officer Darren Wells pointed out that the "price mix" of more specialty tire sales could help the company reach a very important milestone in the coming third quarter.

"We're feeling very good, I think we feel confident that for the third quarter," Wells told the conference, "we'll be able to fully offset raw material cost increases with price mix."

Wells says high-end tires like "FuelMax" are selling well at dealers, with many having to reorder more often.

He says despite the rise in raw material costs - costs increasing by nearly $600 million dollars in the third quarter, the company is "feeling good" about its ability to overcome those costs.

Wells says the company's outlook is good in the next couple of years, as well.