Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (TYO:5101) recently announced that it has developed evaluation technology able to visualize the frictional conditions of tires running on an icy surface. The company expects that this will lead to the development of winter tires with significantly improved performance on ice. The new technology will help Yokohama Rubber more accurately discover compounding agents that excel at...
Tires
Sumitomo Rubber Set to Appear at International Exhibition for EV Technologies
Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (TYO:5110) has announced that it will be exhibiting at the 31st International Electric Vehicles Symposium and Exhibition & International Electric Vehicle Technology Conference (EVS 31 & EVTeC 2018). The event will be hosted at the Kobe Convention Center from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, with the exhibition portion scheduled to run until Oct. 2. Sumitomo Rubber...
Sumitomo Rubber to Boost Brazilian Tire Production With Additional Investment
Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (TYO:5110) has announced that it intends to make an additional investment of 153 million Brazilian reals ($37.38 million) in response to growing Brazilian demand for truck and bus tires. The investment will go toward boosting production capacity at the company’s Brazil Factory, which is set to begin production of truck and bus tires next March. Initial...
Bridgestone Turns UK Tire Company ETB Into Wholly Owned Subsidiary in New Acquisition
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) recently announced that it has acquired a 100 percent share in the ETB Group, which sells car tires and provides other automotive services across the southwest of the U.K. The share acquisition for this was completed by Bridgestone’s European arm on Sept. 6. The companies have not yet disclosed the amount paid. Looking toward a stronger European...
Pirelli Japan Launches New Line of Studless Winter Tires Using Soft Tread Compound
Pirelli Japan Co. Ltd. has this month begun a sequential launch for its new line of studless winter tires, Ice Asimmetrico Plus. The Ice Asimmetrico Plus series has seen Pirelli Japan adopt a soft, durable new compound based on material used in the company’s existing Ice Asimmetrico line. By then improving the mixture and distribution of materials such as silica,...
Bridgestone Targets Commercial Tire Applications for Plant-Derived Isoprene Rubber
Bridgestone Corp. (TYO:5108) recently announced that it has entered into a joint research project for plant-derived isoprene rubber and its high-performance derivatives, working here on production technologies and practical applications for these materials. Efforts under the project look to establish plant-derived isoprene rubber as a practical, industrialized alternative to the natural rubber and oil-derived synthetic rubber currently used as raw...