Audi: Tire makers must bring suppliers to R&D table

Cologne, Germany – Tire makers should do more to bring their major suppliers in on development projects with automotive OEMs, an Audi AG manager has warned.

Audi has to deal with increasingly complex challenges around the development of tires and wheel/tire systems for new vehicles, Dr Thomas Roscher said at Tire Technology Expo (TTE), held 10-12 Feb in Cologne.

These challenges, he said, include increases in customer demands, regulations and regional requirements as well as the growing variety of models coming on the market.

The way forward involves “establishing what we want early in the development process,” said Roscher, who heads up the development, wheels/tyres/TPMS, testing unit at Audi’s base in Ingolstadt, Germany.

“We have our macro-level knowledge of [tire] technology,” Roscher told ERJ after his TTE presentation. “The tire makers have their in-depth knowledge, and suppliers to the tire makers have their special expertise.”

But, said the Audi engineer, the latter group is not sufficiently involved in the process around the design and testing of tires during the vehicle-development stage.

“This cannot go on,” Roscher emphasised. “We need to bring the suppliers to the discussions at the table.”