You ll notice that we re presenting the results for both this STATE OF THE INDUSTRY. Which Consumer Tire Brand Was Best Overall?

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Brian Dean
6 years ago
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1 TIRE BRAND STUDY 2014 It s amazing what a year away will do! After taking 2013 off, the TIRE REVIEW Tire Brand Study is back and it seems the extra time allowed the market to settle into a familiar frame. You ll notice that we re presenting the results for both this year and 2012 so that you can get a better sense of trends that may have arisen as we came off of the Great Recession. In particular, this 21st Tire Brand Study shows that by and large tire companies appear to be better at meeting dealer expectations, and that those brands with more customer-friendly pricing are receiving more favorable grades. On the Consumer Tire side, dealers continue to value product quality, a favorable adjustment policy, strong brand awareness, high fill rates and the ability to make a decent profit. In addition to viewing what dealers said about specific brand criteria, we re also for the first time showing the top consumer tire brands for each of five geographic regions in the U.S. On the truck tire side, Product Quality and Retreadability top the list, and if you set tire Fuel Efficiency to the side, only 0.8 grade points separate the most important attribute Product Quality from the least a tie between the benefit of Technical Support and Brand Profitability. Surprisingly, given all of the emphasis placed on the attribute by tiremakers, dealers graded Fuel Efficiency at the bottom. TIRE REVIEW s Tire Brand Study measures dealer opinions and perceptions about the brands they regularly offer. Dealers could not comment on brands they did not carry, and consumers and end-users were not polled. No tires were physically tested. TIRE REVIEW collected and analyzed dealer responses from some 2,200 completed telephone surveys of retail and commercial tire dealers, and measures were taken to assure a fair sampling of dealers geographically and to limit the impact of large regional or national dealerships. Dealers rated each brand of tires they carried on a 1 to 10 scale 10 being highest on a series of criteria. An aggregate overall score for each brand was calculated, averaging the results from each category. Published here are results for consumer brands that a minimum of 40 tire dealers stated they regularly sell, and truck tire brands that at least 20 commercial tire dealers said they regularly offer. Complete Brand Study results are available by contacting Bob Roberts, research manager, at ext. 252, or by ing broberts@babcox.com. Which Consumer Tire Brand Was Best Overall? MICHELIN BRIDGESTONE FIRESTONE TOYO BFGOODRICH GOODYEAR YOKOHAMA CONTINENTAL COOPER HANKOOK MASTERCRAFT DUNLOP HERCULES KELLY GENERAL SUMITOMO KUMHO UNIROYAL PIRELLI NEXEN FALKEN CATEGORY AVERAGE Adjustment Policy How Helpful Is It? HERCULES DUNLOP MASTERCRAFT TOYO KELLY KUMHO CONTINENTAL FIRESTONE YOKOHAMA BFGOODRICH HANKOOK MICHELIN BRIDGESTONE COOPER GOODYEAR NEXEN SUMITOMO UNIROYAL FALKEN GENERAL PIRELLI CATEGORY AVERAGE SOTI September 2014

2 Advanced Technology Are They Innovative? MICHELIN BRIDGESTONE TOYO FIRESTONE GOODYEAR HANKOOK CONTINENTAL YOKOHAMA COOPER PIRELLI BFGOODRICH MASTERCRAFT DUNLOP UNIROYAL GENERAL HERCULES KUMHO SUMITOMO KELLY NEXEN FALKEN CATEGORY AVERAGE Brand Profitability Can We Make Money? MASTERCRAFT SUMITOMO KUMHO TOYO YOKOHAMA COOPER FIRESTONE HERCULES NEXEN GENERAL CONTINENTAL KELLY HANKOOK PIRELLI UNIROYAL BRIDGESTONE DUNLOP FALKEN GOODYEAR BFGOODRICH MICHELIN CATEGORY AVERAGE Consumer Awareness How Well Known Are They? MICHELIN GOODYEAR BFGOODRICH FIRESTONE BRIDGESTONE CONTINENTAL COOPER YOKOHAMA UNIROYAL HANKOOK PIRELLI TOYO DUNLOP KELLY MASTERCRAFT GENERAL SUMITOMO KUMHO FALKEN HERCULES NEXEN CATEGORY AVERAGE Fill Rate Do I Get My Full Order? HERCULES MASTERCRAFT YOKOHAMA MICHELIN FIRESTONE SUMITOMO TOYO BRIDGESTONE CONTINENTAL HANKOOK KELLY BFGOODRICH COOPER DUNLOP GOODYEAR KUMHO NEXEN GENERAL FALKEN UNIROYAL PIRELLI CATEGORY AVERAGE SOTI 23

3 Fuel Efficiency Are Their Tires Fuel Sippers? MICHELIN BRIDGESTONE GOODYEAR TOYO BFGOODRICH CONTINENTAL FIRESTONE YOKOHAMA DUNLOP UNIROYAL HANKOOK KELLY KUMHO GENERAL COOPER HERCULES SUMITOMO PIRELLI MASTERCRAFT NEXEN FALKEN CATEGORY AVERAGE Line Coverage Do They Make It? BRIDGESTONE GOODYEAR FIRESTONE MICHELIN HANKOOK CONTINENTAL COOPER TOYO YOKOHAMA BFGOODRICH HERCULES MASTERCRAFT KELLY DUNLOP NEXEN FALKEN KUMHO PIRELLI SUMITOMO GENERAL UNIROYAL CATEGORY AVERAGE Merchandising Support Do They Support Their Brand? MICHELIN BRIDGESTONE BFGOODRICH MASTERCRAFT COOPER FIRESTONE GOODYEAR HANKOOK TOYO DUNLOP YOKOHAMA CONTINENTAL GENERAL KELLY SUMITOMO HERCULES KUMHO PIRELLI UNIROYAL FALKEN NEXEN CATEGORY AVERAGE Product Quality How Good Is It? MICHELIN TOYO BRIDGESTONE FIRESTONE BFGOODRICH HANKOOK CONTINENTAL COOPER DUNLOP YOKOHAMA GOODYEAR HERCULES KELLY MASTERCRAFT SUMITOMO UNIROYAL GENERAL KUMHO NEXEN PIRELLI FALKEN CATEGORY AVERAGE SOTI September 2014

4 Top Consumer Tire Brands By Region MIDWEST NORTHEAST SOUTHEAST SOUTHWEST WEST GOODYEAR MICHELIN COOPER FIRESTONE BRIDGESTONE BFGOODRICH Which Truck Tire Brand Was Best Overall BRIDGESTONE MICHELIN CONTINENTAL FIRESTONE HANKOOK COOPER/ROADMASTER YOKOHAMA BFGOODRICH GENERAL GOODYEAR TOYO DOUBLE COIN DUNLOP KUMHO SUMITOMO HERCULES CATEGORY AVERAGE Brand Profitability Can We Make Money? FIRESTONE DOUBLE COIN YOKOHAMA BRIDGESTONE COOPER/ROADMASTER KUMHO HERCULES TOYO HANKOOK BFGOODRICH GENERAL MICHELIN SUMITOMO CONTINENTAL GOODYEAR DUNLOP CATEGORY AVERAGE SOTI September 2014

5 Adjustment Policy How Helpful Is It? BRIDGESTONE COOPER/ROADMASTER FIRESTONE HERCULES CONTINENTAL GENERAL TOYO KUMHO YOKOHAMA DOUBLE COIN DUNLOP SUMITOMO BFGOODRICH HANKOOK MICHELIN GOODYEAR CATEGORY AVERAGE Advanced Technology Are They Innovative? BRIDGESTONE MICHELIN CONTINENTAL GOODYEAR HANKOOK COOPER/ROADMASTER FIRESTONE GENERAL DUNLOP YOKOHAMA KUMHO BFGOODRICH TOYO HERCULES SUMITOMO DOUBLE COIN CATEGORY AVERAGE Application Coverage Do They Make It? BRIDGESTONE MICHELIN CONTINENTAL COOPER/ROADMASTER SUMITOMO YOKOHAMA HANKOOK TOYO DUNLOP FIRESTONE GOODYEAR BFGOODRICH GENERAL DOUBLE COIN KUMHO HERCULES CATEGORY AVERAGE Fill Rate Do I Get My Full Order? COOPER/ROADMASTER HERCULES CONTINENTAL TOYO BRIDGESTONE HANKOOK DOUBLE COIN FIRESTONE KUMHO BFGOODRICH GENERAL YOKOHAMA GOODYEAR MICHELIN SUMITOMO DUNLOP CATEGORY AVERAGE SOTI 27

6 Fuel Efficiency Can Fleets Save Money? MICHELIN CONTINENTAL GOODYEAR BRIDGESTONE BFGOODRICH DUNLOP HANKOOK FIRESTONE YOKOHAMA DOUBLE COIN GENERAL KUMHO COOPER/ROADMASTER TOYO HERCULES SUMITOMO CATEGORY AVERAGE Product Quality How Good Is It? BRIDGESTONE MICHELIN COOPER/ROADMASTER CONTINENTAL FIRESTONE GOODYEAR HANKOOK TOYO BFGOODRICH DUNLOP GENERAL YOKOHAMA KUMHO DOUBLE COIN HERCULES SUMITOMO CATEGORY AVERAGE Retreadability Can Lifecycle be Extended? BRIDGESTONE MICHELIN BFGOODRICH DUNLOP GENERAL FIRESTONE HANKOOK CONTINENTAL DOUBLE COIN YOKOHAMA GOODYEAR SUMITOMO TOYO COOPER/ROADMASTER HERCULES KUMHO CATEGORY AVERAGE Technical Support Do They Help Customer? BRIDGESTONE FIRESTONE BFGOODRICH MICHELIN CONTINENTAL GOODYEAR HANKOOK COOPER/ROADMASTER YOKOHAMA TOYO GENERAL DUNLOP DOUBLE COIN SUMITOMO KUMHO HERCULES CATEGORY AVERAGE SOTI September 2014

Tire Brand Study. Consumer Tires Which Consumer Tire Brand Was Best Overall? Sponsored By: Adjustment Policy How Helpful Is It? Brand

Tire Brand Study. Consumer Tires Which Consumer Tire Brand Was Best Overall? Sponsored By: Adjustment Policy How Helpful Is It? Brand TR SOURCEBOOK 2015 Tire Brand Study Sponsored By: The TIRE REVIEW Tire Brand Study a compendium of how tire dealers feel the brands they regularly stock and sell perform in the market continues this year.