The future of the Dayton brand is uncertain at Bridgestone Americas, according to Gary Garfield, CEO and president of the Nashville, Tenn.-based tire maker.
Bridgestone discontinued sales of Dayton-brand truck and bus tires last year, and the company is putting little if any emphasis on upgrading the brand's passenger and light truck offerings, Mr. Garfield said, choosing instead to offer dealers a range of outsourced brands to fill their entry-level requirements.
Mr. Garfield, speaking at a press briefing at Akron's Firestone Country Club—site of the Bridgestone Invitational World
Golf Championships—did not state unequivocally that the Dayton brand is gone, but he acknowledged it's a possibility.
“We still see some value (in the brand),” Mr. Garfield said, “but not much.”
The Dayton brand consists of only a few lines, including the Quadra LE passenger and Timerline H/T and A/T light truck/SUV tires. The company does not maintain a separate website for the brand, as it does for its Bridgestone, Firestone, Fuzion and Primewell brands.
Bridgestone took on the Dayton brand when it bought Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. in 1988. Firestone in turn, had acquired the brand in 1961 when it bought the tire business of Dayton, Ohio-based Dayton Rubber Co., which had launched the brand in 1910.
In the past few years, Bridgestone has pared down its associate brands, phasing out the Lemans and Gillette brands in favor of the entry-level offerings like the Chinese-made Primewell brand.