Remember when broad-line was easy to define?

Those days are history, say tiremakers. Here's why!

By: Mike Manges

The line between broad-line and high performance has blurred as more cars roll off the assembly line with bigger tire and wheel combos.

There was a time when broad-line tires were broad-line tires and performance tires were performance tires, and the two categories rarely, if ever, intersected. Those simple days are long gone, according to tire manufacturers.

Thanks to the growing number of cars rolling off the assembly line with large diameter, low aspect ratio tires, “the lines (between tire segments) are absolutely blurred right now,” says Travis Roffler, director of marketing for Continental Tire the Americas LLC. “225/60R16 is the new 195/75R14.”

Where does that leave the broad-line segment? In a state of flux, says Rick Brennan, vice president of marketing for Kumho Tire U.S.A. Inc.

“The traditional broad-line segment — 13 inches to 16 inches and 70- to 75-series — has shrunk, not because there are fewer consumers in it, but because cars have evolved. From a tire dealer’s point of view, the marketplace is getting more size-oriented and less segment-oriented.”

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Related Topics: Broad-line tires, Continental, Kumho

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