Continental sells tires for automobiles, motorcycles, and bicycles worldwide under the Continental brand. It also produces and sells other brands with more select distribution.

In 2001, Continental acquired a controlling interest in Temic, Daimler Chrysler's automotive-electronics business, which is now part of Continental Automotive Systems. The company also purchased German automotive rubber and plastics company Phoenix AG in 2004, and the automotive electronics unit of Motorola in 2006. Continental acquired Siemens VDO from Siemens AG in 2007.

In Argentina, teamed up with FATE in 1999 for the production of tires for cars, trucks, and buses and exports the production of the San Fernando plant to the rest of South America.[19] In 2007, the company began to construct a plant in Costa Rica to produce power-train components for North America. The plant was to open in two phases and ultimately employ 550 workers.

Continental also produces wheels for mountain bikes and rubber soles for Adidas running shoes.

In November 2018, Continental purchased Kmart tire and Auto in Australia from Wesfarmers for $350 million.

William O'Neil had a Firestone franchise in Kansas City. He started a small manufacturing facility for tire repair products, and called it Western Tire and Rubber.

As Firestone grew, it sold additional franchises, reducing the territories of its earlier franchisees. Dissatisfied, O'Neil decided to compete with Firestone instead, using the expertise he had gained with Western. He went into partnership with his father, a department store owner in Akron, and formed The General Tire & Rubber Company in 1915 using $200,000 in capital borrowed from the store. The O'Neils hired away some Firestone managers.

Initially, they focused on repair materials, as with Western Tire & Rubber, but in 1916 they expanded into tire manufacturing, focusing on high-end products.

Firestone was originally based in Akron, Ohio, also the hometown of its arch-rival, Goodyear, and two other mid-sized competitors, General Tire and Rubber and BFGoodrich. Founded on August 3, 1900, the company initiated operations with 12 employees. Together, Firestone and Goodyear were the largest suppliers of automotive tires in North America for over 75 years. In 1906, Henry Ford chose Firestone to supply tires for its car models.

In 1918, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Canada was incorporated in Hamilton, Ontario, and the first Canadian-made tire rolled off the line on September 15, 1922. During the 1920s, Firestone produced the Oldfield tire, named for racing driver Barney Oldfield.

In 1926, the company opened one of the world's biggest rubber plantations in Liberia, West Africa, spanning more than one million acres (1,560 sq mi; 4,050 km2). Also that year, the company opened its first Firestone Tire and Service Center (later renamed Firestone Complete Auto Care). Firestone Complete Auto Care is the division of Firestone that offers automotive maintenance and repair, including tires.

Beginning in 1909, The Falls Rubber Company manufactured Falls brand tires and Evergreen tubes for the fast-growing market of motorised buggies and Model A’s. At that time, Falls was one of the more than 40 companies in the state of Ohio engaged in the rubber business.

For 25 years the company operated a single factory in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, near Cleveland. Eventually the Falls brand was applied to inner tubes as well as tires. One of the unique elements of Falls products was the “vulc-annealed” process used in tire production. The term was contained in the company logo and referred to a special slowcooling process after curing which prevented Falls tires and tubes from becoming brittle.

In 1930, The Falls Rubber Company was purchased by The Giant Tire & Rubber Company and The Cooper Corporation, both located in Findlay, Ohio. The firms were joined under a holding company called Master Tire & Rubber Company, but they continued to run separately. Mastercraft was a brand of Falls tires used by the company since its beginning. Perhaps this strong, merchandisable name was the inspiration for the Master Tire corporate name.

In 1946, Master Tire was changed to Cooper Tire & Rubber Company in recognition of the largest of the company’s three brands. Each brand continued to be marketed separately, although the company consolidated all other operations.

In 1995, the word “Falls” was deleted from the logo and “Mastercraft Tires” became the tradestyle for the brand.

Falken Tire is a brand of passenger car, light truck, and medium truck tires owned by the Japanese company Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI). It was launched in its native country of Japan in 1983, and was introduced to the North American market two years later and in Europe in 1988. Falken has now become a stand-alone brand that focuses on UHP (Ultra High Performance) products while utilizing professional motorsports to further develop and improve products for worldwide distribution.

Sumitomo Rubber North America, Inc., formerly known as Falken Tire Corporation, is the corporate headquarters in Rancho Cucamonga, California, with a West Coast distribution center in Ontario, California. Additional Falken Tire distribution locations include warehouses in Illinois, Florida, New Jersey, and Texas.

In June 2015, Sumitomo and Goodyear announced that they would dissolve their worldwide partnership. As part of the deal, Sumitomo bought Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America, which included a manufacturing plant in Tonawanda, near Buffalo, New York. The plant, rebranded as Sumitomo Rubber USA, began to produce Falken Tire-branded tires in January 2016