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The Tire industry is closely linked to automobile industry production and also on raw materials and additives connected with its volatile prices. The current manufacturers in the U.S are facing competitions from China and mainly Asia.
US tire Industry is associated with the latest generation of technologies which allows them to differentiate their products. Thus, the new technology and the innovation play an important role for the entire automotive industry forcing the companies to rethink business models.
Based on research, tires account for up to 20 percent of the total resistance faced by a vehicle. Accordingly, customers will gain additional range with optimized rolling resistance. Low rolling resistance is therefore in particular demand for electric cars that focus on efficient driving.
In this case, many manufacturers rely on the additives that use upgraded rubber compound. The special compound of natural rubber and other components shows significantly improved behavior during mechanical deformation. This results in lower rolling resistance and therefore lower energy consumption.
It is expected that the trend of low rolling resistance will grow in the future, but no compromises should be made about other characteristics of tires, without compromising mileage, grip and overall optimum tire performance.
With the ongoing increase in raw material cost of tires, six foreign tire makers have committed to projects totaling $3.28 billion in 2016-2019. The new entrants will exert competitive pressure in the OE as well as the replacement tire market. For example, Hankook Tire America, built its first U.S. plant in 2017 and it has already won contracts to supply certain platforms of Volkswagen, Ford, Honda, Toyota and Nissan.
Airless (or non-pneumatic) tires use mechanical structures, rather than air, to support the vehicle’s weight. For example, Michelin currently offers a line of airless radial tires for small-scale utility, recreation and construction vehicles, while Goodyear markets airless tires for zero-turn radius mowers
Michelin, the leader in tires and mobility, in July 2021. announced the establishment of a new sales unit in Casablanca Morocco. The unit will professionalise the sales and use of tires in Morocco by upgrading the performance of tires and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
As of March 2021, Goodyear announced a venture with UFODRIVE which is an all-electric and all-digital car rental company. The strategic partnership will facilitate their combined efforts towards mobility solutions as well as the company’s intelligent tire monitoring system with UFODRIVE’s advanced e-mobility software platform. The company is also collaborating with Voyomotive, a company focused on connected car technology. The collaboration will pilot the tire monitoring solutions which will help achieve more efficient operation of automobiles across the US.
The company Goodyear and a Dutch research organisation TNO are planning to collaborate to develop an intelligent braking system. They will test the implementation of connected tires passing information onto the vehicle’s control system, particularly the anti-lock system which will initiate the raking system to operate.
Bridgestone, Goodyear, Hankook and Michelin have each introduced concept tires that would bring airless tires to the passenger vehicle market. Additionally, Cooper has been active in the development and evaluation of airless tire technology for military use.
To take advantage of the increased use of wireless connectivity in automobiles, manufacturers like Bridgestone, Continental, Cooper, Goodyear, Kumho, Michelin and Pirelli are continuing to develop sensors, chips or tags that, integrated in a ti re, can wirelessly transmit real-time information — such as tire temperature, pressure and tread wear — for use in fleet and tire life cycle management. Michelin has already introduced an aircraft using this technology.
Goodyear has implemented real world testing of a sensor/pump combination embedded within the structure of a tire itself, which could ultimately eliminate the need for drivers to manually control tire pressure.
August 2021: Michelin has launched fifteen new tire sizes in the CrossClimate2 series. They are now available in 70 sizes in the peerless tire category.
July 2021: Michelin has announced the launch of a heavy-duty bus drive tire which has been designed for use in harsh weather conditions most commonly experienced in the North American region as well as Canada. The Michelin X Incity Grip D premium drive tire will provide advanced protection in urban environments due to harsh conditions.
June 2021: Michelin North America announced the launch of two new pre-mold retreads to expand their portfolio of tire retread technologies. The first, the Michelin X Multi T-SA Pre-Mold Retread and second, the Michelin X One Line Energy T2 Pre-Mold Retread.
June 2021: Yokohama introduced its latest OTR tire, the Galaxy LHD 510 SDS for wheel loader applications, The Severe Duty Solid (SDS), non-pneumatic tire, has been specifically developed for use on vehicles carrying out operations in extreme areas, such as those found in waste management facilities, scrap yards and recycling centers.
May 2021: Goodyear released its latest US market tire, the Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive all-season with ComfortFlex technology.
May 2021: German automaker BMW is to become the first automotive manufacturer to utilize tires produced using certified sustainable natural rubber and rayon, a wood-based material.
May 2021: Michelin introduced its first range of electric bus tires that can also be used by traditional urban and suburban vehicles. The Michelin X Incity EV Z was originally designed specifically for EV applications but has since proved efficient when used on traditional forms of buses.
August 2020: Hankook Tire launched the new Dynapro AT2 series of tires for on as well as off-road SUVs.
US tire market size across all segments is estimated at $25-$28B per annum.
Compared to 2019, Original Equipment (OE) shipments for passenger, light truck and truck tires decreased by 20.4%, 18.0% and 29.0% respectively, with a total reduction of 12.4 million units.
Replacement passenger and light truck tire shipments decreased by 9.5% and 1.8% respectively, with truck tire replacement shipments showing a modest decline at 2.1%. The total unit reduction for replacement tires is to be 22.0 million units.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the economic slowdown for several industries which has disrupted the supply chain operations across the globe. The shortage of raw materials worldwide due to the lockdowns and travel restrictions globally has led to the economic instability across different sectors of the market. However, as the restrictions are starting to relax the markets have started to recover. The tire market has also started to recover due to the development and demand of the automotive sector in the Asia-Pacific and US region.
Nokian Tyres released their half year financial reports for the period January-June 2021. They recorded net sales of $ 899.1 million which was a significant increase as compared to the same term for the year 2020 which was $652 million, indicating an increase of 37.7%. The decrease was attributed due to the COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in shortage in raw materials, as the costs started to increase, they resulted in a negative impact during the second half of the year 2020. The market started to recover as the restrictions relaxed across the globe creating a balance in the supply chain systems which were disrupted earlier.
Goodyear reported a net income of $12 million with adjusted net income of $102 million for the first quarter of the year 2021. The sales for this quarter were $3.5 billion which increased by approximately 15% from the sales of the year 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The total volume of tires sold totalled to 35 million which was significantly increased by 12% from the previous year. The increase was attributed to the recovery experienced by the industry and increase in the market share gains.
Continental is expanding its market share in the tire segment for fully electric vehicles In 2020, six of the world’s ten highest-volume manufacturers of electric vehicles relied on the high technological expertise of the premium tire manufacturer for their original equipment. These included Tesla with its Model 3 and Model S and Volkswagen with the ID.3. Also Asian manufacturers, for example BYD, one of China’s largest car producers, rely on Continental tires as original equipment for their electric vehicles.
As of August 2021, the premier tier manufacturing company Bridgestone has announced to invest in the technology company Kodiak Robotics which focuses on the development of truck autonomous control systems. The partnership is estimated to integrate its smart sensing tire technology for the Level 4 autonomous trucks of Kodiak.
Goodyear’s “more life” concept, which includes grooving and retreading of truck tires, also contributes to longer tire use, reducing the share of recycled tires. Mileage increases by up to 25 percent, and tire costs are reduced by 30 percent.2 Significantly less oil, chemicals and other materials are used to make renewable tires, and production includes fewer emissions.
The production model is therefore more sustainable and contributes to achieving the EU’s goals towards a circular economy.
The company acquired Ventech systems that provide automated tire inspection systems technology. The acquisition has strengthened Goodyear’s stake in the US market as the technology used in inspection has helped in improving the efficiency of tires manufactured.
As of June 2021, the company Goodyear completed the acquisition of Cooper Tire and Rubber Company at $1.45 billion. The agreement has strengthened the company’s position globally across the tire industry.
Apollo Tyres is planning on North American expansion, the company has entered the truck and bus tire segment in Canada and the USA. Manufacturing of the latest truck-bus tires will be carried out in the company’s production facilities based in Hungary and Chennai, India, where capacity and technical expertise will aid in a steady supply of tires to the American market.
Continental achieved its target of using 100% green electricity in its production processes in 2020. Last year, the manufacturer purchased four million MWh of green energy, and reduced its direct and indirect global CO2 emissions by 70%, down from 3.2 million metric tons in 2019 to 0.99 million metric tons in 2020.
The proposed Goodyear-enabled service will see technology capable of capturing and analyzing live tire performance data to detect a drop in tire pressure, possibly days before the vehicle’s TPMS informs the driver.
The system will also inform customers of upcoming low tire pressure conditions and situations. In turn, the pair state that the technology service will allow drivers to run tires at optimal pressures to increase tire performance, safety and vehicle efficiency.