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.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has become one of the first industrial sector users to access the world’s most powerful computer. SRI is using the new ‘exascale’ Fugaku supercomputer to expand its materials simulation capabilities at the smallest particle level. The manufacturer has previously tapped into supercomputer technology to assist with the development of its tyre technology. Its tyre engineers previously used Japan’s K-supercomputer to launch its 4D NANO Design process. SRI credits the resulting step change in performance with the increasing number of accolades and original equipment deals subsequently achieved by its Falken tyre range list.
The eleven leading tyre manufacturer members of WBCSD’s Tire Industry Project (TIP) have launched a Roadmap to accelerate tyre value-chain impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 to address some of the world’s most pressing issues by 2030. The members of TIP, in alphabetical order, are: Bridgestone, Continental, Cooper Tire, Goodyear, Hankook, Kumho Tire, Michelin, Pirelli, Sumitomo Rubber, Toyo Tires, and Yokohama Rubber.
Falken Tyre’s parent company, Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has successfully developed technology that generates electric power from tyre rotation and supplies this to peripheral tyre sensors. The company says that this marks a major leap towards achieving Sensing Core Technology applications that will be instrumental in enabling future mobility trends.
Following last month’s preview of the 2021 report, Brand Finance has released its full Tyres 10 ranking. According to the 2021 table, the tyre sector has taken a hit over the last year, with all 10 brands losing brand value. Brand Finance unsurprisingly puts this decline down to the pandemic-related behavioural changes: “Owing to the lack of travel due to lockdowns, car sales are declining, which means tyre brands are selling less units, resulting in a drop in market equity across the industry. Furthermore, since the economy has been riskier in general over the past year, investor risk has increased, triggering a rise in the cost of capital.”
Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has presented the “next evolution” of its proprietary Advanced 4D Nano Design materials development technology. The manufacturer of the Falken and (outside Europe) Dunlop tyre brands also reports it is utilising supercomputer technology to accelerate its work on materials simulation.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) is working to achieve carbon neutrality in its tyre manufacturing processes by 2050, and as part of these efforts recently began examining the possibility of utilising hydrogen energy within its major tyre factories in Japan. In order to “participate more actively in efforts to overcome the challenges involved in bringing about the hydrogen economy while also exchanging useful information with other companies and organisations,” SRI has joined the Japan Hydrogen Association.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has announced the next evolution of Sensing Core, and says this latest update to its tyre sensing technology is “revolutionary”. In addition to tyre pressure, tyre load and load conditions, Sensing Core can now detect tyre wear.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has inaugurated a winter tyre test facility at its Nayoro Tire Proving Ground on the northern island of Hokkaido, one of its main development sites for winter tyres. The 3,000 square metre Nayoro Indoor ICE Field – NICE for short – is one of the largest indoor on-ice tyre testing facilities in Japan.
Sumitomo Rubber South Africa (Pty) Ltd (SRSA), manufacturer of the Dunlop, Sumitomo and Falken tyre brands for the African continent, has announced the appointment of Lubin Ozoux as its new CEO and Executive Director of SRSA effective 1 January 2021. Ozoux will take over the role from outgoing CEO, Riaz Haffejee who has led the company for the past eight years. Haffejee will remain with the company until the 31 January 2021 to “ensure a smooth transition”.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has been working together with Japan’s Gunma University since last year to develop a system that remotely monitors tyre pressure in driverless vehicles. The tyre maker reports that, having created a system that works with Level 4 autonomous vehicles, it conducted a successful proof-of-concept test of this new system on public roads on 12 November.
RIKEN
Sumitomo Rubber South Africa (Pty) Ltd