The Dunlop brand has passed through multiple ownership structures since the dissolution of the original Dunlop Rubber Company. In 1985 Dunlop Rubber was acquired by BTR plc, at which point Sumitomo Rubber Industries acquired the rights to manufacture and market Dunlop-branded road tyres. Sumitomo did not acquire any Dunlop company itself in that transaction.
In 1999 Sumitomo and Goodyear entered a global joint venture under which Sumitomo continued manufacturing Japanese-market tyres under the Dunlop name while Goodyear purchased a 75% stake in the European and North American Dunlop tyre businesses. That joint venture ran for sixteen years before Sumitomo began acquiring the remaining Dunlop brand rights from Goodyear. In October 2015, Sumitomo acquired the Dunlop motorcycle tyre brand in North America. In January 2025, Goodyear announced the sale of the remainder of its Dunlop brand activities to SRI, with the transaction completing in May 2025.
Fort Dunlop, the brand's original manufacturing facility in Erdington, Birmingham, opened in 1891 and was the home of Dunlop's motorsport tyre production. The Birmingham factory produced around 300,000 specialised racing tyres per year, specialising in vintage, motorcycle, and touring car applications. It ceased tyre production on 30 May 2014, ending Dunlop motorsport tyre manufacturing in the United Kingdom.
Dunlop's motorsport involvement has spanned most of the major categories of circuit racing. The company supplied tyres during Group C sports prototype racing and in the early Group GT1 era, and achieved overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Dunlop-shod sports cars. The brand also won Le Mans class victories across multiple categories during its period of active endurance competition.
In contemporary motorsport, Dunlop supplies tyres to the Supercars Championship in Australia and the Super2 Series, in which it also serves as the championship's title sponsor. The company supplies select teams in the Super GT series in Japan across both the GT500 and GT300 classes. Dunlop is one of three tyre suppliers to the FIM Endurance World Championship and provides large volumes of tyres to teams at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, with as many as 4,000 tyres supplied to competing teams for that event alone.
In September 2025 Dunlop entered the sim racing space for the first time, becoming the official tyre partner for Gran Turismo 7 and the Gran Turismo World Series esports tournament.
Dunlop operates manufacturing and distribution across a broad international footprint. In several Asian markets including Japan, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Russia, as well as South Africa and much of Latin America, the Dunlop brand is operated directly by Sumitomo. In Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, the brand was managed under licence by Continental AG until December 2025, when Sumitomo acquired the exclusive rights in those markets effective January 2026.
In India, the brand has operated separately under Dunlop India Ltd., owned by the Ruia Group, having established its Indian business in 1926.