Tires are an important component for any vehicle; it is where the “rubber meets the road,” literally! It is not only responsible to exercise proper tire care and maintenance on your vehicle, but it is also worthwhile to put the best tires that you can on your vehicle. Part of the quality component comes down to where the tire is manufactured and to which standards. To this end, we have gathered together the top 10 tires that are made in the USA.
10 best tires made in the USA by all American companies and tires made in America but under the name of international brands.
All American Tires
- Goodyear
- Dunlop
- Cooper
- Kelly-Springfield
- Hoosier
International brands made in the USA
- Bridgestone
- Michelin
- Pirelli
- Yokohama
- Continental
Many people in the US prefer to buy goods that are made in the USA. This is for a number of reasons, including patriotism, supporting local companies, the perception of a better-quality product, and local support for the product. It is no different when it comes to tires; people have the same notions about tires that are made in the USA. With the conglomeration of international tire manufacturers, the lines become blurred as to where the tires are produced.
The Best 10 Tires Made In The USA
Tires made in the USA is a broad statement that needs to be drilled down into a slightly narrower niche since there are tires that are all American in that the company is American owned and they design and manufacture their tires in the USA.
There are also multinational and international tire brands that have manufacturing plants in the USA. Tires produced at these manufacturing plants are technically made in the USA, but the ownership of the company is not necessarily all American.
The waters get further muddied when you take into account the fact that some locally made tires make tires with names that are never seen on American roads. This is because some tire manufacturers, including American-owned companies, have diversified into making tires locally that are for exclusive overseas markets.
Thus, these tires, while made in the USA, are not destined for the USA market and will never see the light of day in a local tire shop under that brand name.
For these reasons that we are going to make the distinction between all American tires that are made in the USA by American companies and also list separately top tires from international brands that are also manufactured in local tire plants in the USA.
Many tire companies make tires for all ranges of motor vehicles, while others are better known for manufacturing tires for a specific industry or a particular classification of vehicle.
Many of the companies and tire brands that we mention are considered small players in the US market, even though they are all American companies.
Goodyear and Cooper, which are all American companies, alongside Michelin and Bridgestone, which are international brands made locally in the USA, are the big players in the tire industry in the USA. These four companies account for 75% of all the tire-related income generated every year in the USA.
All American Tires
Even though cars are the main vehicle that comes to mind when we talk tires, we forget about the humble bicycle, which started using rubber, pneumatic tires in 1887, some 50 years before cars did.
The credit for creating the first rubber pneumatic tire is generally accepted as going to John Dunlop, a Scotsman.
Goodyear Tires
The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, simply known as Goodyear, is a well-known all-American tire company that has itself become a multinational company and expanded to many other countries worldwide.
The company was founded by Frank Seiberling back in 1898 in Akron, Ohio, and has grown to be a global competitor in the tire industry. The company was named after Charles Goodyear, the inventor of vulcanized rubber in 1839, which revolutionized the manufacture of rubber and led to the use of this product for tires.
Goodyear is considered to be among the top 4 tire manufacturers worldwide, the others in the group being Bridgestone, Michelin, and Continental.
In the early 1900s, the company became involved in making airships and balloons, which led to the production of the iconic Goodyear blimp in 1925 as an advertising campaign for the company. The Goodyear blimp became a welcome and familiar sight at raceways across America.
Goodyear produces tires for a wide range of vehicles, from tires for private motor vehicles to industrial vehicle tires to tires for racing cars of various descriptions. Goodyear has a record that is the envy of most other tire companies in that they were the most successful tire manufacturer in Formula 1 racing. They racked up more race starts, race wins and won more constructors championships than any other tire producer that is involved in the sport.
Goodyear pulled out of Formula 1 racing in 1998 to focus on the local American NASCAR series, where they became the sole supplier of tires for this racing series.
Goodyear has come a long way in its 100-year plus history, from making bicycle tires to being the tires of choice on the iconic Model T Ford to becoming a household name in tires worldwide for the average private car.
Goodyear is a leader in innovation in the USA with tire technology advancement, both in durability, design, and safety. They were the first tire company in the USA to manufacture and test synthetic rubber tires.
The company has been a leader in introducing advancements in the tire industry both locally and globally and, as a result, has become associated with a quality, durable tire that has safety as a priority.
Goodyear introduced the wider tread radial-ply tires, which put a wider-footprint tire on the road and enhanced road safety significantly.
The company manufactures a wide variety of tires for many different applications.
- All-season tires. Tires that will give a firm road grip across a wide range of seasonally different road conditions.
- All-Terrain tires. These tires are designed to handle both on and off-road driving with equal competency.
- Sport performance tires. These tires will give you the extra performance edge for a high-performance car.
- Run-flat tires. Even with a puncture, you can drive on these tires to get to a location where you can get assistance.
- Summer tires. These tires are designed to boost performance in hot summer months.
- Winter tires. In colder winter climates, these tires provide additional traction on snow and icy roads.
- NASA partnership. Goodyear has been in partnership with NASA to develop special tires to use on vehicles designed for the moon and for Mars.
Goodyear is our choice of the number 1 choice for the best tires made in the USA. The company is a tribute to the American entrepreneurial spirit and the quality of products that have come to be expected from the USA.
Cooper Tires
Cooper is another all-American tire company that has its origins in the state of Ohio. The company was founded in 1914 by John Schaefer and Claude Hart, who started the company as a tire patch, tire cement, and tire repair kit producing company.
They started out in Akron, Ohio, but moved the business to Findlay, Ohio, in 1924 when they purchased the Giant Tire and Rubber Company and began producing tires under the Cooper brand.
Through the development of quality tires and investment in motor racing in the USA, the company gained favor among the USA motoring public.
This was boosted by the fact that the Cooper tires were generally more affordable than many of the other bigger brand tires, but the quality was not compromised. This led to Cooper tires becoming the fifth largest tire manufacturer in the USA and Canada.
Cooper Tires has expanded globally into Europe, China and has expanded the brand names under which it produces tires.
Cooper Tire brand names include the following.
- Cooper Tires. This is the original brand and still the flagship brand of the company. These are mainly tires for the private car sector, including sedans, SUVs, pickup trucks as well as commercial truck tires.
- Avon Tires. This is a well-known British tire brand that Cooper acquired. Avon produce quality tires for motorcycles, passenger cars, vans as well as trailers.
- Mastercraft Tires. This is a value brand that gives quality tires at good value for private passenger vehicles, SUVs, and light trucks. They also have specialty winter tires.
Cooper also produce a number of smaller brand tires for local markets, which include the following brands.
- Dean
- Mickey Thompson
- Roadmaster
- Starfire
- Arizonian
- Futura
- Hercules
Cooper Tires has had involvement in racing of various forms, including Formula 1, and was chosen as the official tire supplier for the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
Most recently, Cooper has been purchased by the tire giant Goodyear and now falls under the management of this company.
Dunlop Tires
Dunlop is not a strictly all-American tire company, but the tires that are sold in the USA are USA-made tires. The company was started in Ireland by one of the pioneers in pneumatic tires, John Dunlop, in 1890.
The brand has developed to be a popular tire across the world, but it is not large enough to rival the other bigger brands in the industry.
The brand is managed by different global tire companies in different parts of the world, which is why we mentioned that it is not strictly an all-American tire brand.
- Dunlop in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The brand is operated, manufactured, and distributed by Goodyear.
- India. The Dunlop India Ltd company operates the Dunlop brand exclusively in India.
- Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The Dunlop brand is operated by the Japanese tire company Sumitomo Rubber Industries.
Thus, while the brand is not local to the USA, if you buy a Dunlop tire in the USA, the tire will have been manufactured in the USA.
Kelly-Springfield Tires
The Kelly-Springfield Tire Company is an all-American tire company that was founded in 1894 by Edwin Kelly and Arthur Grant. The company operated out of Springfield, Ohio, in the USA.
Although Kelly-Springfield had an early start at around the same time as the other major American tire companies, it was bought fairly early on in its history by the growing tire giant Goodyear.
The Kelly-Springfield brand kept its own identity and still produced tires under this brand. The tires produced by the brand are aimed at the private vehicle market and produce quality tires at an affordable price.
The main tire ranges that the company produces are as follows.
- Kelly Edge. This range has all-season tires aimed at the urban vehicle, an all-terrain version for on and off-road traction.
- Kelly Safari. The Kelly Safari is a great all-season, all-terrain tire that is more geared toward the off-road, farm-style roads but still has good performance when taken on-road.
- Kelly Winter Access. The Winter Access tire from Kelly isa specialist winter tire for snow and icy road performance.
In the 1990s, the company moved to Akron, Ohio, when it was absorbed into Goodyear, the parent company. The Kelly-Springfield brand is still produced, but it is fully managed by Goodyear.
Hoosier Tires
Hoosier Tires is a tire company that is truly all-American, and the tires were born from the racetrack! The founder was a stock car racer by the name of Robert Newton, from Lakeville, Indiana, who started the company up in 1957. He was looking for a tire that would have a compound that catered to additional speed for stock car racers.
He began by making retreads from street tires to find a combination of compounds that would provide the ideal tire that he was looking for to give him the edge in his stock car racing.
Since those early days, the company progressed to become a supplier of premium racing tires for both professional and amateur race drivers in multiple segments of motor racing.
The company focuses on manufacturing tires for the following motor racing sectors.
- Stock car racing.
- Road racing.
- Dirt track racing.
- Drag racing.
- Rallying.
The Hoosier tires were even featured on the Batmobile!
In 2016, the European tire company, Continental AG, bought Hoosier and continues to produce the Hoosier brand out of Plymouth, Indiana.
The Hoosier brand is often marketed as Hoosier Racing Tire since the market sector for their tires is exclusively for the racing industry. The company does not produce tires for the private sector of the automotive industry.
Foreign Tire Brands Made In The USA
Many well-known international brands of tires have realized the importance of the US automotive market. Some international brands bought into local tire companies and gained a foot into the US market in this way.
Many other brands simply opened manufacturing plants in the United States, which provided jobs for the local population and gained exposure for their brand in the country.
While many of these brands are owned by overseas companies, many of the tires they produce are manufactured in the USA.
As a result, these may not be all-American companies, but the tires are still USA-made which is why we have included some tire brands that fall into this category. These brands have international acclaim for their quality tires, and they are available to consumers in the USA, so we could not exclude them from a list of best USA-made tires.
Bridgestone Tires
Bridgestone is a Japanese tire company that was established by Shojiro Ishibashi in 1931 in the city of Kurume, Japan. Bridgestone is the second largest tire manufacturer in the world, second to Michelin. In terms of revenue and market share, they are ahead of the all-American company Goodyear, which ranks at number 3.
Bridgestone America came about as a merger of an American tire producer, The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, which was birthed in 1900 by Harvey Firestone in Akron, Ohio. The merger of Bridgestone and Firestone took place in 1988.
Both companies produced good quality tires in their own right, and after the merger, they merged their technologies and continued to produce tires that became very popular in the automotive industry.
Bridgestone has a presence in many countries around the world, including countrie in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Southern Africa.
Bridgestone became heavily invested in motor racing, starting in the early 1980s, by manufacturing tires for Formula 2, 3 Formula ford racing as well as the karting racing scene. In the late 1990s, the company started sponsoring Formula 1 racing and supplying tires for the sport.
They had great success in the Formula 1 sector, and their tires began to become sought after by many teams and from the 2007 season to the 2010 season, all formula 1 teams used Bridgestone tires.
Bridgestone sports sponsorship expanded to include NFL, golf, and soccer sponsorships both locally and internationally.
Bridgestone Americas is a major tire manufacturer in the USA and produce these tires locally. They manufacture tires for the following sectors.
- Tires for cars and light trucks.
- Larges trucks and busses.
- Tires for agricultural machinery.
- Off-road specialist tires.
- Motorcycle tires.
- Tires for aircraft.
Bridgestone Americas produces tires under 4 major brand names in the USA.
- Bridgestone – marketed mostly to the USA, Canada, and Latin American Market.
- Firestone – sold to USA consumers, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America.
- Primewell – This Bridgestone brand is sold exclusively in the USA.
- Fuzion – Sold exclusively in the USA and marketed to sedan, minivan, and SUV owners.
Bridgestone Americas has a reputation for producing quality tires that offer superior performance and durability.
Michelin Tires
Michelin is officially the largest tire manufacturer in the world and has its roots in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The company was started in 1889 by two brothers, Edouard and Andre Michelin where they began with bicycle tires.
Michelin invented the radial tire, which revolutionized the tire industry and brought better reliability and safety to the motor car tire.
The iconic emblem of Michelin tires, the Michelin Man, was born in 1894 and has been the brand’s logo ever since. The Michelin Man has become as iconic as the Goodyear blimp, and these two symbols remain two of the most well-known advertising gimmicks for these tire brands.
Michelin gained entry to the USA when it merged with two iconic, longstanding, all-American tire companies BF Goodrich and Uniroyal.
BF Goodrich was founded in 1870 by Benjamin Franklin Goodrich, in Akron Ohio. BF Goodrich was the first American tire manufacturer to produce pneumatic tires for automobiles and also produced the first radial tires in the USA.
Unroyal, or the United States Rubber Company, produced sought-after tires in the muscle car scene, and their Tiger Paw tires became the tire of choice for many of the iconic muscle cars, including the Pontiac GTO.
Michelin merged with both these companies in 1989 and also started manufacturing the Michelin brand in the USA as a consequence.
Michelin is entrenched in the motorsport industry and supplied tires to the MotoGP for many of the motorcycle teams. Formula 1 car racing was another arena where the international tire manufacturer has supplied tires as well as in the endurance races such as the Le Mans 24 hour race and the American Le Mans series.
The Michelin USA plants produce the Michelin, BF Goodrich, and Uniroyal tire brands, which provide tires to various market sectors.
- Performance car tires for cars such as Ferrari and Porche.
- Tires for sedans, SUVs, and light trucks.
- Motorcycle tires, both on and off-road tires.
- Bicycle tire for BMX, mountain bikes, and road bikes.
Pirelli Tires
Pirelli is an Italian tire manufacturing company that has been well-known for its expensive, high-quality tires intended for performance cars and supercars. The company does also makes tires for more modest sedans and SUVs, but the name is generally synonymous with performance cars and sports cars.
Pirelli has manufacturing plants in Hanford, California, as well as Madison, Tennesee, and Rome, Georgia.
They acquired the American tire company Armstrong, in 1988 after which they pursued a more active presence n the USA.
Pirelli produces quality tires that are at the upper end of the price range for automotive tires. The P Zero, Cinturato, and Scorpion Verde are he manufactures offerings to the general motoring community. Pirelli also produce a superb range of winter tires that provide great grip in icy winter conditions.
Continental Tires
Continental tires company is formally known as Continental AG and was founded in Germany in 1871 and began to manufacture tires in 1898.
Continental AG entered the tire industry in the USA in 1987 when they purchased the American tire company General Tire.
General Tire was an all-American tire that was founded in 1915 in Akron, Ohio, and focused on high-end tire products, including making tires for the Model T Ford.
Continental tires, more recently in 2016, bought the Hoosier Racing Tire company, as we have previously mentioned.
Continental continues to make a wide range of tires for a range of motor vehicle market sectors, including the following.
- Ultra high-performance tires. This includes the Continental ExtremeContact range as well as the ContiSportContact and the CrossContact range of tires.
- Touring tires. This range is intended for crossover vehicles and light trucks, and SUVs and includes the Terraincontact range and Viking contact range, among others.
- All-terrain tires. This range caters to crossover vehicles and light trucks, and SUVs.
- Winter tires. Continental offers excellent winter tire versions across their entire range of tires.
Yokohama Tires
Yokohama is a Japanese tire company that expanded to the USA in 1969 under the name of the Yokohama Tire Corporation.
Yokohama has built a research and development tire plant in Cornelius, Wes Virginia, and have manufacturing plants in Salem, Virginia, and West Point, Mississippi.
Yokohama have a number of tire ranges that are popular in the USA, including the following.
- Advan. This is Yokohama’s high-performance tire range that have their roots on the racetrack and delivers racetrack performance to the street.
- Avid. This range of all-season tires are geared for the luxury sedan market
- Geolander. This is the all-terrain tire from Yokohama that is suitable for crossover vehicles, 4×4, and general off-road applications.
- Iceguard. This is the winter tire range for exceptional handling in snowy, icy winter conditions.
- Parada. This tire range is intended to provide style and performance for cars, trucks, and SUVs
- Bluearth. This range of extreme winter tires is for those extra-cold and icy winter conditions.
Yokohama tires are higher-end tires that are quite expensive, but the quality you get for the price is definitely worth the extra expense.
Conclusion
Tires are big business, and many tire manufacturers worldwide have recognized the importance of the automotive market in the USA.
Local all-American companies have dedicated supporters in the US and can compete in the market, but the demand for tires in the USA outstrips what local manufacturers can supply.
International manufacturers have taken up the slack and created manufacturing plants in the USA, which boosts the local economy and gives the local public access to world-class tires locally as well as renowned local brands.