The O.E market plays a huge part in pricing. Many people still replace like for like on reasonably new vehicles. The vehicle manufacturers have to have the tyres specc'd way before they start rolling off the line. The stability from the bigger names is an absolute must from a vehicle manufacturers point of view.
And ofcourse (natural) rubber isnt the only addition to a tyres compound, the amount of silica, carbon black, blah, blah, varies massively between tyres. Research and development.........etc, etc
