Tire Cologne 2024: From cutting-edge new tyres to technology and sustainability

Ticket sales for the Tire Cologne got underway about a month ago at the end of March. Around the same time, Koelnmesse, the organisers of arguably the European tyre business’s largest exhibition published its exhibitor list. Now Koelnmesse is previewing what visitors to The Tire Cologne will be able to experience when the show runs between 4 and 6 June 2024.

One of the names joining the list in more recent times belongs to a company we’d previously thought was absent. The Michelin Group will exhibit at The Tire Cologne via its Euromaster distribution network. Announcing the upcoming engagement, Euromaster says it looks forward to presenting the European workshop chain’s “extensive and flexible” franchise concept in face-to-face meetings. We recently reported that the Michelin Group, alongside Bridgestone and Goodyear, would not have an exhibition presence at the Cologne, Germany-based tyre industry show.

The range of topics on-show

From the beginning, Tire Cologne has been aimed at the widest selection of tyre-related segments and that means we can expect a similarly broad range of topics on-show at the 2024 event. Whether tyre design, recycling, circular economy, digitalisation or material innovations – Tire Cologne sets out to “illuminate the industry themes of the future with renowned exhibitors from the whole world and a varied programme” asking questions including: What new requirements are there for tyre design? How can models with more efficiency and performance be brought onto the road? What new solutions are there for the utilisation of old tyres? How can the tyre trade set itself up to be competitive in the future?

In order to fulfil requirements for mobility, the design and material of tyres are being constantly optimised. New models should not only offer top performance but also be as durable and free of pollutants as possible. For example, the European Union is defining new limit values for tyre wear and requirements for durability in its current Euro 7 standard for pollution. In response, the tyre industry is developing new design solutions and high-performance material mixtures in order to achieve greater efficiency and reduced rolling-resistance-related energy consumption.

The reduction of rolling resistance, weight and noise levels is particularly important when it comes to electric vehicles – with lower rolling resistance increasing vehicle range and better quietness characteristics significantly more impacting in the EV sector.

All-season tyres for SUVs and sports cars or all-round models for motorcycles and bicycles that combine safe driving with comfort and sportiness are also setting new standards for grip.

Smart tyres, sensors and integrated data

Sensor-based control systems for measuring tyre pressure present another opportunity to increase efficiency. In the case of passenger vehicles, such systems have been basic equipment for some time now, but in is also increasingly common in commercial vehicles and is also being used off-road in the agricultural and OTR sectors. In addition to measuring tyre pressures, new systems for trucks and/or buses perform additional complex tasks such as temperature monitoring and increasingly predictive maintenance at the same time as function of several wheels positions across a number of axles as well as incorporating different trailer combinations. In addition, software solutions are available for fleets of all sizes offering continual tyre testing in order to optimise individual vehicles and overall performance.

At the same time, digital simulations also help analyse tyre behaviour in order to improve performance. Virtual reality technology represents an important provider of inspiration for the future of the tyre industry. In addition to further automation of the production processes, Artificial Intelligence  (AI) algorithms and machine learning contribute to the more efficient and precise manufacture of tyres and wheels. When it comes to automotive parts sector, with its different databases, AI can be used to increase efficiency and to contribute to time savings. AIgorithms can also be deployed when it comes to generating tyre recommendations, as we do with WhatTyre.com, but similar technology can be used across tyre segments and to varying degrees of driver and application specificity.

Tyre recycling and all-round circularity

Circular Economy

The wider tyre business has been increasingly innovative when it comes to concepts relating to disposal, retreading and recycling in recent years. Now few companies aren’t considering how their business grapples with concepts such as sustainability and circularity. In the meantime, much research has taken place and, as a result, technology has been developed that enables growing levels of recycling across the entire supply chain. Rubber and various plastics can be efficiently recycled with new thermolysis systems. Recyclates like polyester from old PET bottles or waste products from agriculture make up a growing share of old tyre material. Indeed, recycled materials already constitute a predominant part of new tyre models. The integration of sustainable tyre components is also being accelerated in racing.

The successful recycling of old tyres is an important step in the direction of the circular economy. For a complete production cycle, the individual components like rubber, plastic or steel must be separated and prepared. To this purpose, methods of chemical recycling like pyrolysis are today being further developed. The steel wire is extracted, the tyres are shredded in several steps and the rubber granulate is vaporised in a reactor, so that the remaining components can once again serve as raw materials. Cleantech companies are working on combining pyrolysis and distillation technologies in order to further advance development toward a circular economy and close the resource cycle. Pyrolysis oil could in future provide an alternative to fossil fuels.

At the same time, the tyre industry is increasingly trusting in biological ingredients for more sustainability. Many manufacturers are aiming for the production of tyres made out of completely recycled or biologically created materials, in the long term. Even today, tyres with a high proportion of biomaterials satisfy the same requirements as conventional models. In addition, the preliminary products at the basis of synthetic rubber are being obtained from biomass. Biological materials like natural rubber, orange peel and rice husk are also being used as environmentally compatible ingredients in the tyre recipe.

Put 300 exhibitors together with the widest range of topics in the industry, along with a show roster that boasts some of the biggest names in the business and Tire Cologne 2024 has a good foundation for claiming to be a pan-European tyre exhibition.