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Death and taxes are the only two certainties in life, or so the old chestnut goes. To that, we can add one more — at least, if you own a vehicle: The need for new tires. If you’re not the type of person who sticks to one brand, then choosing a new set of rubber can be difficult given how many major tire brands are out there, jostling for your attention and hard-earned money.

Two names that will likely pop up during your search will be Michelin and Yokohama. Both companies are significant players in the global tire market, although Michelin has the definitive upper hand here with a 15.1% share of the market as of 2022 and annual revenue of around $28 billion (per Consumer Affairs). But does that necessarily extend to how the two companies’ tires compare in terms of quality? Might there, instead, be a chance that Yokohama’s offerings outperform Michelin’s?

Unfortunately for fans of the Japanese manufacturer, Consumer Reports‘ year-end list of the best tire brands offers a definitive answer: no. Michelin tops CR’s list of tire brands, while Yokohama sits at 16th, behind other Asian brands such as Sumitomo, Nexen, and Toyo.

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Digging a bit deeper into Consumer Reports’ tire reviews over 2025, it becomes clear why Michelin tops the list and why Yokohama lags that far behind. Michelin’s offerings, including the CrossClimate 2, Defender 2, and Pilot Sport All Season 4, are some of CR’s favorite tires, making their way onto the outlet’s list of best-performing tires of the year. A handful of the brand’s other tires, such as the X-Ice Snow, LTX A/T 2, and Primacy Tour A/S, also earned CR Recommended awards, giving the brand a huge presence at the top of CR’s rankings in all categories.

Yokohama, conversely, only received one CR Recommended award, which CR gave to the Avid Ascend GT all-season tire. The Avid Ascend GT is a decent all-round option based on CR’s testing, although it also doesn’t offer anything that Michelin’s all-season products don’t. It is noticeably cheaper than Michelin’s Primacy Tour A/S, though, which may make it a more appealing choice for some. Beyond that, the other Yokohama tires in CR’s database as of late 2025 are mediocre at best.

CR’s perspective is not necessarily that of all consumers, though. J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study saw Yokohama take an admirable second place in the passenger car tire category. The Japanese corporation scored 807 points out of 1,000, behind Goodyear’s 815 and just ahead of Michelin’s 805. Yokohama didn’t have any presence in J.D. Power’s other categories (including truck and performance tires), though, whereas Michelin was at or near the top in all of them.