NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Bridgestone Americas Inc. has phased out the Dayton medium truck tire brand, eight years after reviving it as an entry-level product targeted at independent drivers and small fleets.
Prior to relaunching the century-plus-old brand in 2013, Bridgestone had "retired" it in 2010. The company had sourced Dayton-brand tires offshore.
In 2015, the company debuted a promotional campaign for the brand under the tagline, "Tires for Truckers," to promote the brand as "tires designed for truckers" such as small fleets and owner-operators focused on their work.
The campaign featured a dedicated website, daytontrucktires.com, but that site is now offline.
Bridgestone has controlled the Dayton brand since 1988 when it bought Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., which in turn had owned the brand since 1961 when it bought the tire business of Dayton, Ohio-based Dayton Rubber Co. The company and brand date back to 1910.
Bridgestone instead said it is focusing on the Firestone brand and Bandag retreads as options that deliver a strong total-cost-of-ownership value proposition.
Bridgestone phased out Dayton-brand passenger tires in 2011-12.
During the 1990s Bridgestone supplied Dayton-brand race tires to and sponsored the the predecessor of today's IndyLights series, known as the Dayton Indy Lights Series from 1991-2001.