Same Tire Different Brand....Vanity/Local branding

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KitaCam

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The thread here about clone brands became more interensting to me this past weekend when I bought a pair of new pull-offs that matched my front pair in all aspects but for the name on the sidewall. Both tires have these markings... When I bought KitaCam used from a dealer, it had put on a new pair of "noname" tires (Sumic) up front....the rear were used nonames (Futura)... I hadn't ever heard or seen either, and neither were my choice .....but... I decided to drive them for 2k+ miles in varying conditions, around town/on the highway...before deciding whether to replace them.... ..."testing" them, pushing them, with "emergency" braking, tight turns, quick lane changes, etc...in rain as well as on drive land...only then would I feel comfortable with them... To my surprise the Sumics worked fine...they track better than I expected...but then, this is a CAMRY not a Bimmer so I didn't expect much... The only issue I had was a bit of that soft/floating feeling you get @ speed on the interstate...but that is as much/more due to the Camry suspension than it is a tire issue... So I have no problem with Sumic tires... But those rear pair were 4 years old and I don't like that here on Florida's hot pavement...they were okay but needed to be replaced.... And so...when I came across a good deal on a pair of new "pull-offs" matching the Sumics, I decided to replace the used Futuras with the "like new" tread... And here's the point of the story...the new tires are labled DORAL, a different brand, but identical is tread design and sidewall markings of the Sumics... I'm guessing that SUMIC/DORAL are "vanity" brands labeled differently for local markets... ...curiously.... Both pair were made at the same factory (marked by the 7T on the sidewall) The new rear pair were made in 2012, just 1 week after the front pair...2512/2612...one week was Sumic, and the next week was Doral's turn I guess Sumic and Doral are both made in Indonesia by Sumi (Sumitomo) Rubber... As I said, I had never heard of or seen any tire named Doral, or Sumic tires for that matter (though I've since read they Sumi Rubber makes Dunlops and Goodrich among other brands) ....and then just one day after buying the Dorals, I parked next to my boss's (2009?) Camry and her factory OEM tires were the very same Doral! Strange world... ...I thought this interesting given the other thread on tire brand-clones, so I'm posting this thread to just to add this into the tire branding mix. I should note that the Doral SDL 65A is often INcorrectly pictured on Ebay with instead the tread of the SDL 65....the "A" does make a difference This is not a brand-bashing, or a country-of-origin-clone-bashing thread....I'm pleased with the Sumic/Doral tires... ...actually the Futuras weren't bad either but as already noted they were used and 4 years old, whereas the Sumics/Dorals were made just 6 months ago in 2012.... FRESH tires matter to me, especially on sunny HOT Florida pavement, since I'm going to put only 10k miles a year on them...and 4 years is a safe limit in terms of dry-rot... It would be nice to get more than 25K miles from them as they're rated 400/A/A, (45,000 mi.) but that isn't as important as stopping/tracking/stable performance [over the past 320k miles here in Florida, I've typically gotten about only 30k (half their expected tread-life) from Michelin/Bridgestone/Goodrich tires] Anyway...I thought it may be interesting to show this type of tire branding... ...and invite any other additional multi-branding of identical tires...
 
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Having spent $820 a few months back on my Maxxis (Cooper AT were $340/paw), I've been noticing a whole lot of off brand name tyres that I need to get to know better before my next tyre purchase.
 
I had a co-worker that worked at a tire plant near Montreal as his previous job. He told me of the rebranding, and I said it is good to know. Then he told me the tread may be the same with different markings but the rubber compound is different. So it is something to keep in mind, especially with Winter tires. The tread may look current or like other big brands but the rubber itself is a big part of the tires performance.
 
Canadian Tire has their "Motomaster" branded tires that are just Goodyear or Michelin tires rebranded, often with the previous generation tread pattern and sold at a discounted price.
 
Years ago Doral tires were very popular in the late sixties through the seventies ,,Now Doral tires are a private brand made by Sumitomo Rubber Industries a Japanese company. The tire could be made in many countries. Look on the sidewall of the tire for the country of origin. Throughout many years Sears always claimed their cheap Guardsman tires were made by Michelin ,and Bridgestone bought Firestone ,,It just on and on,So its just best to research yourself to know what company brand made what
 
Originally Posted By: faramir9
Interesting info here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/7/prweb9732859.htm
Thanks... VERY interestng...especially this: "TBC’s Retail Group operates more than 2700 franchised and company operated tire and automotive service centers under the brands Tire Kingdom®, Merchant’s Tire & Auto Centers®, NTB®-National Tire & Battery®, Big O Tires®, and Midas®." As for the quality of the brand and this tire, well, I'm okay with them at the discounted price I paid, (and needing only 2), but not sure I'd have gone with them at their retail price that's just $25/ea less than Cooper, Michelin, and other "known" brands...Still, who knows...I'll know more about how good they really are now that I've 4 all around...
 
Sumic is a semi-private label sold by VIP up here in northern New England. They sold other TBC brands: Grand Am, Multi-Mile, and probably more. Actually okay working man tires for the most part with decent snow traction when new, good balance, etc. A web search for Sumic shows other shops elsewhere selling them, probably the semi-exclusive territories help keep cross price shopping down. I'd mail order a 1st or 2nd tier name brand tire before paying full retail for a sumic though.
 
Originally Posted By: Falken
I had a co-worker that worked at a tire plant near Montreal as his previous job. He told me of the rebranding, and I said it is good to know. Then he told me the tread may be the same with different markings but the rubber compound is different. So it is something to keep in mind, especially with Winter tires. The tread may look current or like other big brands but the rubber itself is a big part of the tires performance.
This is true in many industries. Once you get outside of the auto tires you will notice the same tread offered from every manufacturer for industries such as Ag, earthmoving and Commercial trucks. The differences are often seldom and from 5 feet away most people cannot tell, upon close inspection you can start to see small differences that make a big difference. Perhaps the most important differences though are whats underneath the tread and the compounds it is made out of. The same exact tire from one company will go over 200,000 miles while the next tire will only go 60,000. There is a market though as not everyone is doing long haul trucking and many just want cheaper tires for vocational work as they often rupture them before the tread wears out.
 
These one off tires IMHO have lots more potential for profit at the low end. You cannot compare them to anything elsewhere so you buy. Michelin and Goodyear due to higher prices are likely sold with less margin since you can directly compare against mail order, discount chains etc.
 
For those who didn't read it...from the article linked above... "TBC Wholesale Group is expanding its fall line-up with the rollout of an additional 13 new sizes to the Doral SDL-A and Sumic GTA All Season Performance lines." ...both brands have these construction markings...and they are the same...at least that's what corporate told me when I called and asked... ...and so I wondered why there are 2 brands of the same tire...I thought that interesting...
 
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
For those who didn't read it...from the article linked above... "TBC Wholesale Group is expanding its fall line-up with the rollout of an additional 13 new sizes to the Doral SDL-A and Sumic GTA All Season Performance lines." ...both brands have these construction markings...and they are the same...at least that's what corporate told me when I called and asked... ...and so I wondered why there are 2 brands of the same tire...I thought that interesting...
possibly to confuse customers. One shop handles one brand, the next shop handles the other making it harder for the end consumer to compare pricing.
 
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
For those who didn't read it...from the article linked above... "TBC Wholesale Group is expanding its fall line-up with the rollout of an additional 13 new sizes to the Doral SDL-A and Sumic GTA All Season Performance lines." ...both brands have these construction markings...and they are the same...at least that's what corporate told me when I called and asked... ...and so I wondered why there are 2 brands of the same tire...I thought that interesting...
These 2 tires are not knock-off but exactly same tires produced in same plant in Indonesia ( is well known as GT-Radial locally)
 
I think companies play these sorts of games for those who sell the tires. Think about it. Many stores play the, "we'll match any price if you find the same tire at a competitor" game. So if you supply brand X to one store, and brand Y to another, even if they are physically the same tire, the stores can say you are not comparing apples to apples. It's not just tires, I saw this with Sony video cameras 10-12 years ago. Best Buy had one model number, Circuit City had the same camera based on features with a different model number. The model number was one digit different. The consumer can't play them off against one another because to each retailer, it's a different camera. I think retailers ask for something different to reduce competition in such scenarios. This could be one of many possible reasons you have multiple "brands" selling the very same tire.
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
For those who didn't read it...from the article linked above... "TBC Wholesale Group is expanding its fall line-up with the rollout of an additional 13 new sizes to the Doral SDL-A and Sumic GTA All Season Performance lines." ...both brands have these construction markings...and they are the same...at least that's what corporate told me when I called and asked... ...and so I wondered why there are 2 brands of the same tire...I thought that interesting...
 
Originally Posted By: kr_bitog
These 2 tires are not knock-off but exactly same tires produced in same plant in Indonesia ( is well known as GT-Radial locally)
Yes...the 7T9L is the factory code on the sidewall of both tires and confirms that the tires were made in the same factory...one week apart (2612/2512) ...I didn't intend to imply that one tire was a "knock-off" of the other, but that Sumi Rubber branded the same tire with different names and I was curious why....and whether anyone noticed that with any other tire... P.S. adding a few PSI over doorjam recommendation has firmed them up nicely...I like them....
 
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Not surprised one bit. (already knew this based on my own research) And the deeper I dig, the more I realize just how little the difference really is....
 
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