JK Tyre & Industries has joined forces with EKA Mobility, a leading player in the electric mobility sector with Mitsui Co., Ltd. (Japan) & VDL Groep (Netherlands) as equity partners. The long-term agreement was signed in Pune in the presence of Sanjeev Sharma, AVP, Fleet Management & Mobility Solutions, JK Tyre and Vijaykumar Yelne, President of EKA Mobility.
Using its broadest possible definition as tyres with rim diameters of 17” or more, the ultra-high performance tyre segment is the only engine of growth within the replacement passenger car and light truck (PCLT) tyre segment in West and Central Europe, the latest data and projections from leading tyre business analyst Astutus Research demonstrates. Having withstood the Covid pandemic and accelerated out of 2021 far quicker than smaller rim diameter segments, the 18”-plus segment especially is going to help bolster what little growth there will be in the PCLT tyre market within the region, while also taking market share from smaller sizes. With the electrification of the car parc bringing EVs with generally higher rim sizes, in addition to existing trends towards larger tyres, such as the popularity of SUVs, demand for tyres in this size segment will rise rapidly over the next few years, Astutus’ projections show (see the graphs on these pages for more details).
As this June edition of Tyres & Accessories went to press, we were all preparing for The Tire Cologne. Lauded as Europe’s leading tyre exhibition, the 2024 show will be an undoubtedly international event (see next month’s July issue for the review of what took place). Within Tire Cologne’s international remit, Tyres & Accessories understands that a number of well-known as well as up-and-coming Far Eastern manufacturers will be present this year. Since China is the world’s largest producer of tyres by unit volume, and in order to catch up with developments that have taken place post-Covid, T&A recently spent time in China meeting with numerous domestic and international tyremakers there.
The percentage of company cars being fitted with 18 inch-plus tyres has increased by a third in three years, new data released by epyx shows.
In the first quarter of 2021, 42 per cent of cars fitted with tyres through the business’s TyreServe service were 18 inches or over. This increased to 47 per cent in for the same period in 2022, 52 per cent in 2023 and 56 per cent in 2024.
During our recent visit to China, on the sidelines of the GRTAE expo hosted in what can only be described as the tyre capital of the People’s Republic, Tyres & Accessories enjoyed a panel discussion with Car and Tire editor, Alex Shi. Formerly an executive within the tyre industry – including time with Goodyear – Car and Tires focuses on business-to-business communications and is particularly strong when it comes to tyre testing and in the social media space. Indeed, they are something of a force online, with some 300,000 followers on WeChat, which is a bit like WhatsApp is here in the West. True to form, not only was our discussion hosted in the main meeting room at GRTAE, it was also video recorded and streamed live to a potential of hundreds of thousands of Chinese-language followers in the East. Beginning with the current state of the respective Chinese and European tyre markets in light of recent macro-economic market trends, our discussion then moved onto the similarities and differences between the European and Chinese online tyre sectors (see part two).
CST Tyres is set to launch its new Saleks E·X1 electric vehicle tyre at 13:30 on 4 June at The Tire Cologne. According to CST, the Saleks E·X1 represents “a breakthrough in tyre technology, addressing the challenges posed by the heavier weight of electric vehicles, primarily due to their battery packs”.
Electric vehicle (EV) owners are reporting faster tyre wear rates than they experience on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. And that’s leading to a widening satisfaction gap between original equipment tyres and electric vehicles (EVs) and ICEs, according to the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study, released at the end of March. The study shows that EV owners have similar expectations of tyre wear as do owners of ICEs, despite EV tyres wearing faster due to greater vehicle weight and higher torque.
Pirelli is supplying a specially developed version of its P Zero tyre for the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, the manufacturer’s first high-performance electric car. Developed to meet the additional dynamic requirements of the sporty EV in a two-year collaboration, Pirelli and Hyundai tested the tuned P Zero on the demanding Nürburgring circuit to prove its performance in extreme driving conditions. The P Zero also offers performance, reliability, and comfort for everyday driving.
Yokohama recently joined the ranks of brands with a symbol denoting a tyre’s suitability for electric vehicles. This is the E+ sidewall marking, which Yokohama Rubber debuted on the Yokohama Advan Sport EV last year. The tyre maker is now extending the E+ mark to commercial tyres, initially on two Yokohama bus tyre models, one sold in the European market and one in Japan.
Bridgestone is planning to invest around 800 billion yen ($5.38 billion) over the three years between now and 2026, with the money earmarked for the development of electric vehicle and mining tyres along with decarbonization technologies, according to a Nikkei report.
More and more tyre manufacturers are adding individual EV logos to their product sidewalls, regardless of their decision to develop specialist tyres for the burgeoning market or make tyres they consider compatible with the needs of electric cars. Goodyear recently presented a corresponding label, products from Continental are “EV Compatible”, Pirelli tyres contain “Elect”, and “E+”. can be found on relevant Yokohama tyres. While Nokian Tyres introduced a so-called “Electric Fit” symbol, intended to indicate its tyres’ suitability for electric vehicles, last summer, the marking remains absent from its most recent products’ sidewalls. Surprisingly, even the supplier’s very latest products, the Powerproof 1 and Wetproof 1 summer car tyres, the “Electric Fit” designation cannot be seen on the sidewall or anywhere else. With Nokian Tyres claiming that all of its consumer tyres are suitable for electric vehicles, Tyrepress sister website Reifenpresse asked what this was all about.
Hankook enters its second season supporting Formula E, and the tenth of the all-electric single-seater series, with the season opener at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on 12-13 January. The grid of 22 drivers will all compete using the Hankook iON Race tyre. Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook director motorsport, promised the tyre supplier was prepared for faster lap times as teams push the iON Race harder in its second season.
Roughly six months the introduction of the Advan Sport EV in Europe, and less than a week after the tyremaker previewed the arrival of its ‘superbly quiet’ Advan dB V553 in Japan, Yokohama has launched the Advan Sport EV A/S in the US.
The UK government’s zero emissions pathway became law 3 January 2024. Technology and Decarbonisation Minister Anthony Browne visited a new bp pulse hub in London to mark the occasion. The zero emission vehicle mandate (ZEV) mandate sets out the percentage of new zero emission cars and vans manufacturers will be required to produce each year up to 2030. 80 per cent of new cars and 70 per cent of new vans sold in Great Britain will now be zero emission by 2030, increasing to 100 per cent by 2035.
On boxing day 2023, The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. introduced what it calls a “superbly quiet” tyre. According to Yokohama, the new Advan dB V553 will be able to maintain it low-noise properties through out the tyre’s life.
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