Japanese tyre maker Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. (SRI) says its collaboration in a research project has resulted in a technique that may improve natural rubber yields and even enable natural rubber biosynthesis within a laboratory.
A joint project between Sumitomo Rubber Industries, parent company of Falken Tyre Europe, and Professor Hiroshi Tani of Japan’s Kansai University has resulted in the development of an innovative power generator for tyres. It generates electricity from the rotation of the tyre and uses this to power peripheral sensors installed within the tyre. In this way, the sensors can operate without the need for batteries.
Tyres and tomatoes. At first glance these have little in common apart from the same initial letter, but Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. may beg to differ. The Japanese manufacturer shares news of joint research work focusing on an enzyme that is found in tomatoes and has a similar structure to those involved in the biosynthesis of natural rubber.
In addition to producing Dunlop tyres in certain international markets, Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has held the global trademark for the Dunlop brand’s use on sporting goods and licenced products since 2017. In a move intended to enhance brand equity amongst golfers and fans of the sport, SRI is adding the Dunlop name to the caps worn by its contracted players. Starting with the Japan Golf Tour in March 2022, Dunlop will appear in place of the Srixon logo currently found on the back of these caps.
Electric vehicle-specific aftermarket Falken tyres will arrive in Europe next year, says Sumitomo Rubber Industries. The tyre maker reported the planned release of the Falken e.Ziex upon announcing the April 2022 launch in China of a replacement market range aimed at electric vehicles, the Dunlop e.Sport Maxx.
The Sumitomo Rubber Group’s two tyre factories in the People’s Republic of China are now operating on 100 per cent renewably sourced energy. The transition to renewable was completed this month, and Sumitomo Rubber Industries says additional measures will further increase the Changshu and Hunan plants’ sustainability credentials.
In August 2021, the people behind Blackcircles ZA announced that the company would tap into “the enormous growth of e-commerce in the country” by launching Blackcircles.co.za in South Africa. Four months later at the end of 2021, the site went live.
Although Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ (SRI) sales revenues and particularly profit for the first nine months of 2021 were healthily above those achieved a year earlier, the Japanese firm has downwardly revised its sales and profit forecast for full-year 2021.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. (SRI) has unveiled its ‘Nano Black’ design technique. The company behind the Falken brand shares that the use of Nano Black is a process of applying a deeper black colouring to letters, logos and patterns on tyre sidewalls. This newly developed technique involves adding extremely fine ridges to the sidewall surface in order to inhibit the reflection of light, thereby producing a deeper shade of black than conventional hues.
Toyota has a new flagship SUV that it will sell in 170 countries and regions around the world – but not in the UK or Western Europe. This 13th generation of the Toyota Landcruiser is called the Landcruiser 300, and the Japanese manufacturer considers it a “complete redesign” of the 2007-launched 200 series. Sumitomo Rubber Group continues as a key supplier and will provide the Landcruiser 300 with two Dunlop tyre models.
This month, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. (SRI) begins a proof-of-concept study to determine the viability of harnessing hydrogen energy for tyre manufacture. The study will take place at SRI’s plant in Shirakawa, Japan and is being supported by national research and development agency the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is increasing production capacity for both consumer and truck tyres at its factory in Brazil. With an investment of 1.064 billion Real (£148.7 million), the company will boost capacity for passenger vehicle and light truck tyres from 18,000 to 23,000 tyres a day by April 2024. It will lift truck and bus tyre capacity from the current level of 1,000 tyres a day to 2,200 per day by April 2025.
The first Falken tyre to feature Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ proprietary Coreseal puncture sealant technology goes on sale in Europe this month. Coreseal will initially be available on two sizes of the all-season Falken Euroall Season AS210 pattern.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. has pledged to support the recommendations given by the FSB’s (Financial Stability Board) Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). In a statement, the Japanese tyre and rubber products maker declares that moving forward, it will “strive to follow the TCFD recommendations by working to actively disclose information concerning both the risks and the opportunities that climate change presents” in regards to four key areas of its business: Governance, Strategy, Risk Management and Goals/Indicators.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has begun supplying the Dunlop Enasave EC300+ to Lexus for certain versions of its first all-electric model, the UX300e. Meanwhile, Hankook Tire shares that it will equip the 2021 Honda Vezel hybrid for the Japanese market with its Kinergy Eco² tyre ex works.
