Goodyear Tire North America announced on August 2 that the Assurance premium all-season tire brand is succeeding in capturing market share against Michelin North America, which is selling a similar line of competitive tires. According to Jon Rich, president of Goodyear Tire North America, the Assurance line is the most important product from Goodyear since the Aquatred line. Assurance replaces the Aquatred 3, which will be phased out over the course of the year. The Assurance brand actually includes two brands of tires — ComforTred and TripleTred. Both Assurance tire lines are backed by an 80,000-mile limited tread wear warranty. The ComforTred technology is geared to original equipment fitments. It has a rubber "comfort layer" that gives the tire 40 percent more cushion material between the tread and the belt than the average broad-line tire. The tire line will be introduced in 20 sizes, three of them H-rated, covering 94 percent of the luxury car segment. The TripleTred line has a more aggressive, unidirectional tread pattern. The TripleTred has three unique compounds that split the tread into dry, wet, and ice performance "zones."