DeTomaso Mailing List: December 99, Message #448

Hi guys,

Wanting to find out WTFO from Yokohama, and having (lots of) time on my hands at work today, I phoned Yoko direct to ask the pointed question:

"Why the hell did you discontinue my tire???"  (Not that it's "My" tire of course, but hey, I'm acting as your agent!)

I also asked if it was possible to have that tire put back into limited production if we did a group buy of X number of tires.

Well, here's the story.

Yokohama tires sell for about twice as much in Europe as they do here.  A few weeks ago we were discussing the presence or absence of the "E" (for Europe) safety marking on the Yoko sidewall.  Some of you said your tires had them, others didn't.

What the Yoko rep told me was that there were two different molds, the Euro tires had been tested to conform to Euro standards and were thus marked, while our tires were DOT marked.

Tire retailers in the USA (such as Tire Rack, etc.) were selling USA tires to European buyers at prices substantially less than the European arm of Yoko was selling them for.  And of course, the USA tires, while completely safe, didn't technically have all the necessary stamps etc. that Euro laws dictated.

The European branch of Yoko pitched a hissy fit because (a) they weren't making any money selling their tires 'cause everybody with a CLUE was buying the USA tires instead, and (b) there were liability issues; Yoko of Europe was afraid of getting Schwacked by the Powers That Be if cars were running around with non-Euro tires.

So, Yokohama thought it over, and realized that there was no way they could control the actions of their retailers in the USA.  If they continued to provide tires to them, then the potential existed that they would continue to sell them cheaply in Europe.

So, instead of simply marking ALL the tires with both the DOT and Euro markings, and pricing them the same worldwide, instead Yoko of Japan decided to simply DESTROY THE MOLD and stop making the tires for our market!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The USA rep had NO CLUE as to whether the tires were available in European trim or not.  If so, the potential would exist that we could reverse the trend, and pay about $500 apiece to ship European Yokos back to the USA!  But it's quite possible that they destroyed the Euro mold too; there's no way of telling.

He did offer that Yoko does make a 255/45-15 which could be a potential replacement for the now-defunct 285/40; he also said that they had (relatively) large quantities of this tire in stock.  However, he said the max rim width recommended for that tire is 9.5 inches, which means guys running 10-inch wide Campys in front are still SOL.

What we need to do is start hunting around in Europe and see what availablity is.  How about some of you Brit listers page through magazines, etc. and see if you can come up with Euro outfits similar to our Tire Rack, and ask the necessary questions and then post the results here?  A whole bunch of people would be grateful!

Mike