You’ll notice that we’re presenting the results for both this year and 2012 so that you can get a better sense of trends that may have arisen as we came off of the Great Recession. In particular, this 21st Tire Brand Study shows that by and large tire companies appear to be better at meeting dealer expectations, and that those brands with more customer-friendly pricing are receiving more favorable grades.

Click here to download the Tire Brand Study 2014

On the Consumer Tire side, dealers continue to value product quality, a favorable adjustment policy, strong brand awareness, high fill rates and the ability to make a decent profit.

In addition to viewing what dealers said about specific brand criteria, we’re also for the first time showing the top consumer tire brands for each of five geographic regions in the U.S.

On the truck tire side, Product Quality and Retreadability top the list, and if you set tire Fuel Efficiency to the side, only 0.8 grade points separate the most important attribute – Product Quality – from the least – a tie between the benefit of Technical Support and Brand Profitability. Surprisingly, given all of the emphasis placed on the attribute by tiremakers, dealers graded Fuel Efficiency at the bottom.

Tire Review’s Tire Brand Study measures dealer opinions and perceptions about the brands they regularly offer. Dealers could not comment on brands they did not carry, and consumers and end-users were not polled. No tires were physically tested.

Tire Review collected and analyzed dealer responses from some 2,200 completed telephone surveys of retail and commercial tire dealers, and measures were taken to assure a fair sampling of dealers geographically and to limit the impact of large regional or national dealerships.

Dealers rated each brand of tires they carried on a 1 to 10 scale – 10 being highest – on a series of criteria. An aggregate overall score for each brand was calculated, averaging the results from each category.

Published here are results for consumer brands that a minimum of 40 tire dealers stated they regularly sell, and truck tire brands that at least 20 commercial tire dealers said they regularly offer. Complete Brand Study results are available by contacting Bob Roberts, research manager, at 330-670-1234 ext. 252, or by emailing [email protected].

To see previous years’ Brand Studies, click here.