Dunlop Tyres

Dunlop
Subsidiary of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
Industry automotive
Founded 1985
Headquarters Buffalo, New York, United States
Area served
 North America, Europe, Australia and Southern Africa
Products tyres category for passenger, light truck, Off-the road application
Parent Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
Website dunloptires.com (US)
dunlop.eu (Europe)
www.dunloptyres.com.au (Australia)

Dunlop is a brand of tyres owned by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company subsidiaries in North America, Australia and Europe.[1] In other regions of the world, the Dunlop brand is owned by other companies. In India the brand is owned by Dunlop India Ltd. whose parent company is the Ruia Group,[2] and in the rest of Asia and Africa by Sumitomo Rubber Industries.[3]

In 1985, Dunlop Rubber Company was acquired by BTR plc, and Sumitomo acquired the rights to manufacture and market Dunlop branded road tyres. Sumitomo did not acquire any Dunlop company. In 1997 Sumitomo gained agreement to use the Dunlop name in its corporate name, and changed the name of its UK subsidiary to Dunlop Tyres Ltd.

In 1999 Sumitomo and Goodyear began a joint venture by which Sumitomo continued to manufacture all Japanese-made tyres under the Dunlop name, while Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company bought 75% of the European and North American tyre businesses of Sumitomo. [4]

The company has extensive manufacturing operations throughout the world. With the closure of the Washington plant in 2006, Goodyear Dunlop ceased mainstream car and lorry tyre production in the UK. [5]

Dunlop maintained a motorsport manufacturing operation located in a corner of the original Dunlop factory (nicknamed "Fort Dunlop") in Erdington, Birmingham, established in 1891 until May 2014. This factory produced specialised vintage, motorcycle and touring car tyres, and produced about 300,000 specialised racing tyres per year. On 30 May 2014, the Birmingham factory ceased tyre production, ending Dunlop tyre production in the UK.[5]

The Dunlop GP Racer D209 tyre has been chosen repeatedly as a control tyre for the R&G Racing GSX-R Trophy motorcycle race. It has also been chosen for the Henderson Harley-Davidson XR1200 Trophy and Focused Events KTM RC8 Cup race.

Sport Tyres

The main Birmingham building has been redeveloped extensively as a combined residential, office and hotel complex, with a modern shopping facility (The Fort Shopping Centre), car dealerships and several logistics warehouses. It can be observed between junction 5 and 6 of the M6, on the north side of the motorway.

Until May 2014 Goodyear Dunlop occupied a compact part of the site with their British main office. In the UK, the company operates as a sales organisation, importing tyres from manufacturing plants around the world, including China, Slovenia and Poland.

The Goodyear Dunlop joint venture is managed from sites in Luxembourg and Brussels, which report to Goodyear in Akron, Ohio, United States.

Dunlop Tyres is the sole tyre supplier to the British Touring Car Championship race from 2003 to date and the V8 Supercars Championship race from 2002 to date. Dunlop also supplies tyres to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Japanese Super GT Series and the American Le Mans Series races and the Moto2 & Moto3 classes of the MotoGP Championship.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dunlop Info. Dunlop Tires. Retrieved on 2013-11-02.
  2. ↑ DUNLOP. DUNLOP. Retrieved on 2013-11-02.
  3. ↑ "Apollo Tyres sells South African business to Sumitomo Rubber for Rs 340 crore". Economic Times. 2013-05-30. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  4. ↑ Goodyear form 10-Q for quarter ended June 30, 1999, p.28
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 John Murray Brown in Birmingham and Henry Foy in London (18 March 2014). "Dunlop plant closure announcement branded cynical". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 March 2014.

Further reading