<VV> Tires - Origin and Profits

[Sethracer at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/8/2008 6:27:09 PM Pacific Standard Time,  
bwschug at charter.net writes:

Pardon  my somewhat political comments, but Firestone makes excellent  
tires.  From what I understand, Hankook tires are just fine too. Ya  
pays yer  money and ya makes yer choice.






Before you get all of your undies in an uproar - check the sidewall of the  
tire. That is all that counts. The sidewall will tell you where the tire was  
made. The brand name, of course may well tell you where the money goes - at  
least the profit, if any - from the sale of the tires. In this case, the  
Firestone branded tire may come from any country. (if you have those  185/80-13 
Firestones, please let us know the country of origin - it is on the  sidewall) We 
do know that the profits go to Japan. Firestone is a wholly  owned subsidiary 
of Bridgestone Tire and Rubber Co of Japan.  Folks in  the US can probably buy 
stock in Bridgestone, the company. That is how this  confusing economy works. 
On the average, I own American cars, three built  in the US, two in Canada 
and one in Mexico.  So, on the average . . .  .  And all are General Motors 
cars. 
 
Hankook Tires - Korean origin, I believe. And here is their "Company  
description"
 
         
Hankook Tire America Corp., with  domestic headquarters in Wayne, N.J., 
distributes and markets a complete  line of passenger radials, high performance 
tires, light truck, SUV and  4x4 tires, as well as medium truck and bus tires 
sold throughout the U.S.  and Puerto Rico. From a series of regional offices, 
Hankook oversees 500  independent dealers with more than 3,000 sales locations 
nationwide.  Hankook also operates state of the art research and development 
facilities  in the U.S. and overseas.


Akron Tech  Center 
The Akron Technical Center is dedicated to  developing state of the art tread 
designs and tire technologies using  advanced methods and materials. Advances 
spearheaded at the ATC have  resulted in leading-edge products for the North 
American market. With  advanced engineering concepts and new compounding 
technologies, the ATC  has developed TCT (Trapezoid Contour Theory) Technology, 
Silica  Compounding, FSO (Footprint Shape Optimization) Technology, and CCT  
(Carbon Compounding Technology), integrated into some of Hankook's  best-selling 
tires. The ATC works in conjunction with Hankook's R&D  center in Korea, and 
the European Tech Center in Germany.
 
So - it is anything but simple. Americans can read the  tire sidewalls and 
choose American built - if they want and can find the  tires they want. 
Sometimes, they can choose an American company, even  if their tires (or CAR!) are 
built oversees, knowing that the profits - if  any - may come back to the USA. 
All we need to learn is that reading the  sidewall is the only indicator of 
where the tire was built, and that  companies are not always owned in their 
country of origin. - Seth Emerson.  






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