This information is from a tire industry publication “Tire Reviews.” They do lots of direct comparison tests with a focus on passenger high performance and snow performance. But this industry information is not limited to passenger tires. You might want to check out their website.
The tire industry is a confusing business. Historically there were the big 3 brands that people nearly always purchased. But recently there have been a number of mergers and new budget brands sprouting.
We thought it would be useful to post a consolidated list of who owns who in the tire industry (for our reference as much as yours!). So here is our handy list of the tire market based on Tire Reviews’ analysis:
Michelin – France
World’s number one tire manufacturer. Owns the brands Michelin, BF Goodrich, Kleber, Uniroyal* and Riken.
Bridgestone – Japan
One of the original big three. Owns the brands Bridgestone, Firestone, Daytona, and Europa.
Goodyear Dunlop – USA
Goodyear recently merged with Dunlop to form one of the largest tire manufacturers in the world. Owns the brands Dunlop, Goodyear, Fulda, Falken, and Kelly.
Yokohama – Japan
A brand in itself, Yokohama claims to be the 7th biggest manufacturer in the world.
Pirelli – Italy
Pirelli claims to be the 5th largest tire manufacturer in the world. Most of its retail is through the Pirelli brand but have more recently released the Ceat and Courier brands.
Cooper Tire – USA
Cooper recently bought the Avon brand. It now owns Cooper, Avon, and Mastercraft.
Continental – Germany
Owns Continental, Uniroyal*, General Tyre, Gislaved, and Semperit.
Toyo – Japan
Toyo is one of the newer budget performance tires to market. Formed many partnerships around the globe.
Kumho – Korea
Kumho is also a budget road tire with a strong sporting range.
Apollo – India
Apollo now owns Vredestein.
* To add to the confusion, Uniroyal is Continental owned in Europe, and Michelin owned in USA.
If the “brand” of tire you have on your RV is not listed above, then it is considered a “private brand.” That means it’s a name owned by a sales organization that pays a tire company to make tires for the sales company using the technology of the manufacturing company. So there is not likely to be any special tire design or engineering involved in the manufacturing of your tires so as to keep the costs as low as possible.
Source: Tire Reviews: Who owns which tire brands?
Have a tire question? Ask Roger on his new RV Tires Forum here. It’s hosted by RVtravel.com and moderated by Roger. He’ll be happy to help you.
Read more from Roger Marble on his blog at RVtiresafety.net or on RVtravel.com.
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I’ve read a number of motorhome owners are going to Sumitomo tires. I’m interested in them as well. Any info would be appreciated.
I have had great success with Hankook tires on my MH.
Can you offer any information about these tires
I know it’s a lot more work, but it would also be interesting to know where all those tires are manufactured. For example, you listed no Chinese owners (Double Coin?), but I’d imagine that <some> of those brands have manufacturing facilities in China…
Google the DOT code, or look for “Made in …” on the tire. Just about any brand can be made in just about any country.
Surprisingly, this list did not have Cooper under Goodyear! Goodyear completed the acquisition of Cooper back in June of 2021.
https://corporate.goodyear.com/content/goodyear-corp/us/en/media/news/goodyear-completes-acquisition-of-cooper.html
I don’t know why you listed Toyo tires as a newer tire brand, they’ve been around for 75 years, and I’ve been running there light truck tire for 50 years