Tyre Asia April/May 2018 21
highly diversified marketplace in its recently
published The Future of Global Tires to
2022.
The Industry Briefing authored by Art
Mayer investigates how tyre manufacturers
are meeting increasing global demand,
heightened environmental regulations and
consumer labelling requirements. He has
noted that the tyre industry has demonstrated
dynamism following consumer demand for
quality standards, pressure from OEMs and
government regulators. Increased reliance
on automation technologies, heightened
environmental regulations and consumer
labelling requirements have been the major
trends impacting the tyre industry worldwide.
Smithers Rapra report forecasts that global
tyre manufacturing will grow nearly 4 per cent
per year through to 2022, driven by increased
demand, tyre innovations, and continuing
capital spending and capacity expansion by
tyre suppliers. “The tyre industry currently
is in the middle of a boom cycle, both with
respect to capital spending and net capacity
additions,” says Mayer.
“Overall, industry capacity stands at
approximately 2.4 billion units, and on a net
basis global capacity is expected to grow
nearly 3% per year over the forecast period,
slower than capital spending and production
and demand growth. Rationalization of some
overcapacity in certain markets like China
and likely increases in capacity utilization
contribute to this difference.”
Elaborating on the key findings of his
report, Mayer told Tyre Asia in an
interview: “Underlying growth fundamentals
are good across end-use sectors and
regions. Regulations and more rigorous
user requirements will continue to drive
innovation and uptake, especially at the OE
level. Tyre labelling schemes and increased
fleet ownership (more sensitive to fuel
economy) will help grow a more sophisticated
replacement market.”
Developments impacting plants and
manufacturing processes include the uptake
of new vehicle powertrains, logistical burdens,
the emergence of new markets, mergers and
acquisitions, and the increased value and
scarcity of real estate. Tyre market drivers
with direct impact on manufacturing include
environmental and tyre regulations, changes
in materials and tyre designs, and demands
on tyres – to improve on all three points of
the Magic Triangle of performance – rolling
resistance, wear life, wet grip – combined with
higher added value (e.g. tyre information via
sensors), the report has revealed.Impact of innovation
When asked what are the major impactful
innovations that are forecast for the tyre
industry from the present year through
2022, Mayer said: “With the incorporation
of sensors, integrated with connected or
autonomous vehicle systems, tyres will
become an important information source,
helping leading tyre companies evolve towards
mobility services providers.”He also said further materials advances will
help overcome the traditional tradeoffs in
pursuit of lower rolling resistance. These
factors are adding significant pressure to
innovate tyre manufacturing as a whole, as
well as individual process steps – such as
mixing, tyre building, and curing. Trends such
as outsourcing, material use minimisation,
plant specialisation, and geographic location
changing the structure and footprint of
production are happening.
When asked whether he anticipated
changes in the design and composition of
pneumatic tyres, he said the trend is towards
more sustainable materials, more natural
rubber (and substitutes) and bio-sourced
materials. This will continue, with “complete
sustainability” being the goal.Regarding the impact of autonomous/electric
vehicles on the tyre industry, Mayer has some
interesting observations to make. He says
there will be an ever-increasing premium
on lower rolling resistance to increase
energy efficiency and battery range. Most
autonomous cars will probably be electrics.This will call for higher performance that is
required due to EV torque and acceleration,
while taller and narrower tyres, at higher PSI,
may come to characterize most autonomous
passenger vehicles. Truck tyres may change
less, due to higher load requirements being a
major priority.Greater reliability needs may boost run flats
in the short-term, and raise interest in non-
pneumatics as concepts become more viable
outside current niche segments.Movement towards fleet ownership of
autonomous vehicles will change the vehicle
service and replacement tyre buying process.
With more buyers looking at value over the
tyre’s lifetime, tyre use could change, with
RFID chips or sensors making contracted
mileage easier. This supports the evolution
from tyre manufacturer to mobility partner.Evolving vehicle requirements will accelerate
development of concepts such as adaptive
tyres, e.g., retractable studs for winter tyres,
Mayer said.T
he tyre industry currently
is in the middle of a boom
cycle, both with respect to
capital spending and net
capacity additions