Prometeon Tyre Group opens $15 million R&D Centre in Turkey

Prometeon Tyre Group has opened its largest global dedicated R&D Centre at its plant in Kocaeli, Turkey. The opening ceremony was held in the presence of Mustafa Varank, Minister of Industry and Technology of Turkey. Representing Prometeon were Roberto Righi, deputy general manager of Prometeon Tyre Group, Alexandre Bregantim, global chief technical officer of Prometeon Tyre Group, Lale Cander, chairwoman of Prometeon Turkey, and the entire management team of Prometeon Turkey. The event was held with a limited number of guests, in line with the ongoing pandemic measures.

Prometeon says its new R&D Centre is a key milestone in its global strategy, in which the R&D activities, innovations, and technology investments play an important role. Indeed, the R&D investment in corresponds to nearly 3% of the Group’s revenues. The new R&D Centre will contribute to develop new tyre technologies able to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Achieving the same production levels with lower energy costs through leaner processes and reducing fuel consumption by decreasing the rolling resistance of products are also part of new facility’s goals.

Alexandre Bregantim, global CTO of Prometeon Tyre Group, commented: “Today, we inaugurated yet another remarkable milestone in the Prometeon Tyre Group’s successful path. Over last three years, we implemented several strategic initiatives that made Prometeon healthier, stronger and more resilient in an unprecedented scenario. Strategic interventions at every stage of the company’s value chain, a very strong focus on sustainability and human resources have allowed our company to promptly and effectively tackle the pandemic, both financially and commercially. The new R&D Centre fits into this strategy and will allow us to achieve our goals, improving our offering of both products and customer services, consolidating our partnerships with OEMs and further raising our quality and efficiency standards”.

The Kocaeli plant was built in 1960 as the first tyre factory in Turkey. With this investment, the R&D team in Turkey will grow to 30 engineers, while the number of prototypes and patents developed at the R&D Centre will also increase. Prometeon Tyre Group owns three R&D Centres worldwide: in addition to Turkey, the group has centres in Italy and Brazil. The Group also boasts a Development Centre in Egypt.