Goodyear reported record third quarter sales and earnings, hitting the $6 billion in revenue mark for the first time ever.

The tiremaker’s third quarter 2011 sales were $6.1 billion, up 22% year-over-year, and came even as unit volume remained flat vs. 2010 at 47.7 million tires.

The company listed its third quarter “net income available to common shareholders” at $161 million for the quarter (up from a loss of $20 million last year), and $303 million for the first three quarters of the year (up from a loss of $39 million in 2010).

Sales through three quarters came in at $17.1 billion, up considerably from the $13.8 billion posted through three quarters in 2010.

The North American Tire unit posted quarterly sales of $2.56 billion, up slightly from 2010’s third period sales of $2.18 billion. Through three quarters, 2011 sales were $7.28 billion, up year-over-year from $6.0 billion. Unit sales for the quarter were down considerably though, with 16.6 million tires sold this year vs. 18.0 million in 2010. Through three quarters, 2011 sales were 49.4 million units, down slightly from 49.8 million.

Goodyear said that OE unit volumes for the quarter were flat, while replacement tire shipments were down 10%, “primarily reflecting weaker sales of low-value-added tires in the consumer tire business.”

Goodyear anticipates its raw material costs for the fourth quarter of 2011 will increase more than 30% compared with the prior year, bringing the total increase for the full year to 30% over 2010.