There are tyre brands, and then there are tyre legacies. With over 130 years of innovation behind it,
Dunlop is firmly the latter. Now, following a landmark acquisition by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, the brand is entering a new era. But what does this mean for the tyres we all know and love?
Keep reading to find out how Dunlop's latest innovations continue to raise the bar.
1. Born in 1888. Still Setting the Standard.
Like many great ideas, Dunlop’s was born in the unlikeliest of places. In 1887, Scottish veterinary surgeon John Boyd Dunlop solved the uncomfortable ride on his son’s tricycle using an air bladder from a football — in the process, inventing the world’s
first practical pneumatic tyre.
Within two years, the Dunlop trademark was registered and the brand's first plant was open in Dublin, Ireland.
What followed wasn't simply a business growing, it was the advent of an industry. The
first grooved automobile tyre arrived in 1904. The steel bead tyre in 1922 trebled tyre life overnight and introduced wide tyres that would go on to set the standard for passenger car comfort. Tubeless technology came in 1948, the world's first emergency-capable run-flat in 1970, and Digital Rolling Simulation in 1998 — technology that fundamentally changed how high-performance tyres are engineered. With each milestone Dunlop continued to redefine what a tyre could be.
That spirit of invention is built into Dunlop's DNA, and it hasn't dimmed since John Boyd’s first bright idea.
