Dunlop Tyres
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Dunlop Tyres is a British company owned 75% by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and 25% by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, which sells Dunlop branded road tyres in succession to the Dunlop Rubber Company.
In 1985, Dunlop Rubber was taken over 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[1].
In 1999 Sumitomo and Goodyear entered into 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 [2][3].
The company has extensive manufacturing operations througout the world. With the closure of the Washington plant in 2006, Goodyear Dunlop ceased mainstream car and lorry tyre production in the UK.
There is still a bespoke Motorsport manufacturing operation located on a corner of the original Fort Dunlop site in Erdington, Birmingham, opened in 1891. This factory supports specialised vintage, motorcycle and touring car tyre production, and produces around 300,000 specialised racing tyres per year which are then shipped all over the globe.
The main Birmingham site has been extensively redeveloped with a modern shopping centre (The Fort Shopping Centre), car dealerships and several logistics warehouses. The iconic former head office building is being redeveloped into a combined residential, office and hotel complex. This can be observed between junction 5 and 6 of the M6, on the east side of the motorway.
Goodyear Dunlop still occupy a compact part of the site with their British head 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 company is in an extremely competitive sales environment and has had to continually readjust to this pressure. Apart from the main Goodyear and Dunlop brands, tyres are also sold under the Fulda, Sava and Arrowspeed brand names.
The Goodyear Dunlop joint venture is managed from sites in Luxembourg and Brussels, which in turn reports to Goodyear in Akron, Ohio.
Dunlop Tyres is the sole tyre supplier to British Touring Car Championship for 2003 to 2006 and the V8 Supercars Championship from 2002 to date. Dunlop also supplies tyres to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
