1.   And it ended a manufacturing agreement with Bridgestone and replaced it with a deal with Sumitomo Rubber of Japan, which owns the Dunlop and Ohtsu tire brands.

2.   Continental Tire North America Inc., which manufactures the General tire brand, criticized NHTSA for opening an investigation based on claims data.

3.   Continental Tire North America, which manufactures the General tire brand, did not immediately return calls for comment.

4.   Dunlop rated first among tire brands used on light trucks, which includes vans, pickups and sport utility vehicles.

5.   House Commerce Committee spokesman Ken Johnson said congressional investigators will reveal the results of their analysis into the failure rates of several tire brands during a hearing tomorrow.

6.   House Commerce Committee spokesman Ken Johnson said congressional investigators will reveal the results of their analysis into the failure rates of several tire brands during a hearing Tuesday.

7.   Officials from Goodyear and Continental, which also manufactures the General tire brand, would not comment without having time to review the numbers Tauzin cited.

8.   The averages are weighted by the number of survey respondents who own each tire brand.

9.   The problems involved several different tire brands.