SRNA Previews New Dunlop Tire

The first Dunlop brand tire under the ownership of Sumitomo Rubber North America Inc. (SRNA) will launch next month.

The Dunlop Blue Response A/S will be a premium touring tire that comes with an 80,000-mile warranty, SRNA officials recently told dealers and distributors in Las Vegas, Nev.

"Touring is the biggest segment of our industry – the biggest piece of the pie,” said Ken Hsu, SRNA vice president of marketing. “We have to start with that.”

The tire will come with a variety of features, including wear indicators in both shoulders to “draw attention to vehicle alignment issues or the need for tire rotation,” according to SRNA officials.

Silica particles will “maximize fuel economy and maintain softness in the tread rubber, providing optimal traction on dry and wet surfaces.”

A “variable-array” tread pattern will provide a quiet ride,” while “3D waveform grooves (will) minimize pattern noise and maintain hydroplaning resistance as the tire wears, ensuring long-lasting wet performance.”

The Dunlop Blue Response A/S has been designed to provide “true tier-one performance” at tier-two pricing, said Hsu.

'Blue sky'

SRNA's parent company, Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (SRI), acquired the Dunlop brand from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.  this year.

Darren Thomas, SRNA president and CEO, told dealers that SRI “bought blue sky" when it acquired Dunlop.

"We believe we can be a top tier-two/low tier-one with Dunlop. What we will do with Dunlop will be remarkable. This is an amazing opportunity.”

In an exclusive interview with MTD this past summer, Thomas said SRNA is “in the middle of finalizing our product plans for all segments of Dunlop through 2030.

"These will be the types of products Dunlop needs to be a leader in the marketplace. The products we will introduce between 2026 and 2030 will be more value products to position Dunlop with distributors and retailers — passenger, light truck and TBR.

"This will be a two-phase strategy for us, simply because of the condition of the Dunlop brand in North America and the timeline it takes to develop products for North American sales.

"We believe in the first generation, the Dunlop brand will offer massive margin potential for retailers who are willing to sell Dunlop at a premium price,” Thomas told MTD.

“At wholesale, then it becomes a slightly different strategy, but not entirely different. Wholesale will be driven mostly by how our new associate dealer program is coordinated.

"We’re going to create a new associate Dunlop program that incorporates Dunlop, Falken, potentially Sumitomo and we may coordinate with distributors so their tier-four products of choice may qualify for this program,” which has yet to be named and will replace SRNA’s popular Falken Fanatic program.

The fundamentals of the program “are in place,” said Thomas, who added that the program “may very well be inclusive of our TBR brands, also.”

In the meantime, SRNA will continue to develop new Falken brand tires in the light truck, all-weather and medium truck tire categories. These products “will not be affected whatsoever by the parallel development of new Dunlop products.”

SRI has said that it will “position Dunlop as our core brand and advance our brand strengthening activities as a joint effort between our tire and sports businesses,” focusing on new products.

"In addition, for the Falken brand — which has been deployed in Europe, North America and Oceania — we will utilize the product planning and marketing capabilities we have cultivated in each region to focus on bold, one-of-a kind products that appeal to its core fan base.  

"Through a dual-brand approach to business development, we aim to increase sales volume in each region and raise the proportion of premium products.”