A New Luxury Tire Leader Just Overtook Goodyear, According To JD Power

In March 2026, JD Power released the latest iteration of its annual car tire customer satisfaction survey. The survey found that buyers are becoming more loyal to their favorite tire brands, although overall customer satisfaction was on the decline. Also released were the satisfaction scores for leading brands across each major market segment, with two brands duking it out for first place in the luxury tire segment. In 2024, JD Power ranked Michelin at the very top of the segment for customer satisfaction, an accolade that the French-owned, globally-made tire brand had held for more than two decades. Goodyear took the second-place spot that year.

In 2025, a surprise upset saw JD Power's survey respondents favor Goodyear over Michelin, giving the American brand the overall win in the luxury segment. However, it turns out that Goodyear couldn't keep its place for long, as the 2026 rankings see Michelin once again earn the highest rating, albeit by a narrow margin. Michelin scored 833 points in the latest rankings, while Goodyear earned second place with 829 points. Pirelli ranked third with 804 points, while Continental was slightly further behind with 801 points. At the back of the pack were Bridgestone and Hankook, with Hankook's 756-point score being significantly lower than any other luxury tire brand.

The latest JD Power rankings were great news for Michelin, since the brand scored highest in three out of the four major segments. As well as taking the win in the luxury tire segment, it also scored the most points in the passenger car segment and in the performance sport segment. Goodyear wasn't far behind in those other segments either, taking second place in both. The only category that Michelin didn't win overall was the truck and utility category, where Pirelli saw the highest levels of customer satisfaction. However, Michelin still achieved an impressive third place in that category.

While Michelin will undoubtedly be pleased with the latest results, other tire brands won't be so thrilled. Korean tire brand Hankook gets strong scores from other publications like Consumer Reports — although not as high as Michelin — but it fell short in JD Power's latest survey. As well as being in last place in the luxury tire category, it was also the worst-ranked brand overall in the truck and utility category, and below the segment average for passenger car tires to boot. Bridgestone's performance in the survey wasn't stellar either, with the historic Japanese brand ranking last in the performance sport category and below the segment average in every category apart from truck and utility tires.