rayaans

I think I have the answer. Was applying tyre dressing and alas, spotted a little bit of text saying "MADE IN JAPAN". A quick google search says bridgestone is also made in japan.

I guess they use dunlops and bridgestones because its cheaper for them to buy and dont need to import or anything.

Cruiter

Plus the tires on the cars they export (our h models are still made in Japan) have to have tires available in the country they're going to.

kitlz

Well, prices on both tire brands are pretty cheap in the US compared to others. It's probably true in Japan too. Goodyear has been on the RX since the beginning. Now it's Dunlop, one of the companies they own. I believe it's the same case for Bridgestone and Michelin. You can probably guess what brand I had on all three RXs

I'd love to know how Lexus determines which brand tire to put on the RX since it's built in two countries. For example, at my dealer the RX 350 F-Sport, built in Canada, comes with Dunlop. But right next to it could be another Canadian built RX 350 with Michelin or Bridgestone The RX 450h I've seen usually has Dunlop.

RXSF

doesnt made in japan still mean quality?

rayaans

Michelin are French are they not? Never did like Michelins, always had dunlops or pirellis with a few goodyear eagles.

Cruiter

Anita,
One of the things I learned when back in the business is car companies are not able to be exclusive to one company (vendor). To an extent, it's the same with pretty much all of the vendors they use. Production can not be at the mercy of one vendor going under or having severe production issues that would stop an adequate supply. So they purchase from several that can meat the quotas and specs. Probably the one place on the line that has the largest mix of vendors is the mounting of tires on the wheels.

Try to think of it as Corporate Lexus with multiple models, multiple factories, and dealers in the literal thousands, maybe tens of thousands (Toyota). And pretty much all of them have different tire and option sizes that have to be met. And they (the dealers) need their cars. It's a proverbial nightmare. We're actually lucky (probably) each car has matched sets . Just sayin ... & keyboard tappin ...

BertL

Jim, yes, my former company had the same policies. I was trained, and trained my people every year on varying amounts of that sort of thing, and had various business controls I was audited against to ensure compliance. They were a bit looser in more recent years, but say even 10-15 years back, we could not purchase over what today would be considered fairly small percentages of components or use of subcontractors from one company across all product and service lines in the business. In the "olden days" there was a real concern about if our company changed direction, we'd put a sub out of business or impact them in such a way that would have significant impact on their people... While those concerns have gone to the wayside somewhat in the more current view of "cheapest that can deliver the acceptable goods" wins, and there are a lot more companies that compete or are capable these days, I completely agree that any mfgr cannot become completely dependent upon any individual suppliers -- else they put themselves at risk for things they have no control. Look at the recent rippling effect of air bag problems from one sub that rippled across not only Japanese, but many other country auto mfgrs as a perfect example.

I also think the previous point that international mfgrs have to deal with things like "what tires they put on a particular car" has to be something that can be supported in the country the vehicle is delivered to, adds a bunch of complexity for the car mfgrs. They would certainly like to go with a smaller number of suppliers that had such networks globally, but have to try and balance the previous point of not putting all their eggs in too small a number of baskets.

Such is life in global economies. As consumers, we reap the benefits of some of the quantity mfgrs are producing that helps drive down their cost and therefore our price, but we also have to accept not everything will the be quite as precise and targeted to only our needs as a result.

GoGiantsNJ

We as consumers don't have to settle for just any brand of tires on our new Lexus. I was lucky to have the original Dunlops 19" tires on my '12 RX swapped for Michelins from another RX my selling Dealership had in stock. I'm a big fan of Michelin.

rxsuperman

Using multiple tire venders will provide Lexus cost control simply because of supplier competition vying for the greatest share of the Lexus tire market...

kitlz

Jim, I'd agree with what you said if I saw a Canadian F-Sport RX350 with another brand of tires. So far it's only been Dunlop. And they're made in Japan just like our hybrids. Now yours came with Michelin while mine had Dunlop. Granted, different build dates by several months. But the F-Sport has been out for a while and still no Michelins or Bridgestones. I'm thinking Lexus is sticking with Dunlop to soften the ride more than anything else. Next time I'm at a dealer, I'll check the rim size too since Dunlop is not available in 18" according to Tire Rack. That could explain some of the difference between the two RX350s.