LONDON—European tire makers are entering "exciting and challenging times" as the industry moves to accelerate globalization amid pressures on competitiveness, according to Fazilet Cinaralp, secretary general of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers' Association.
To stay ahead, the industry must prioritize issues around supply chain, products, and manufacturing processes, Cinaralp said ahead of her keynote presentation at next month's Future Tire Conference. Key targets, she added, must include transparency in the supply chain, sustainable sourcing, manufacturing 4.0, as well as optimized environmental and safety performances.
Challenges faced by the industry also stem from automotive trends towards e-mobility. Cinaralp noted that the connected vehicles will make up about 70 percent of the global vehicle parc by 2025.
"The current transformation to connected and automated mobility is forcing the automotive sector as a whole to address fundamental questions with regards to fair and equal access to in-vehicle data," Cinaralp said.
The tire industry, she added, has "the means and resources" to develop data-measurement and modeling technologies that inform drivers and authorities about road conditions, danger zones, and traffic flow. The European tire industry will contribute to finding answers to mobility and environmental questions, "tapping into a knowledge base built up over decades."
Fazilet Cinaralp will deliver the keynote speech on advancing sustainability in the tire industry, at Future Tire Conference, to be held June 11-12 in Cologne, Germany.