Future Tire: ETRMA leader sees “exciting” times ahead for tire industry

London – European tire makers are entering “exciting and challenging times” as the industry moves to accelerate globalisation amid pressures on competitiveness, believes Fazilet Cinaralp, secretary general of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA).

To stay ahead, the industry must prioritise issues around supply chain, products, and manufacturing processes, Cinaralp said in a special Q&A ahead of her keynote presentation at next month’s Future Tire Conference.

Key targets, she said, must include transparency in the supply chain, sustainable sourcing, manufacturing 4.0, as well as optimised environmental and safety performances.

Challenges faced by the industry also stem from automotive trends towards e-mobility, added Cinaralp, noting that the global vehicle parc was expected to be around 70% ‘connected’ 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,” said the ETRMA leader.

According to Cinaralp, the tire industry has “the means and resources” to develop data-measurement and modelling technologies that inform drivers and authorities about road conditions, danger zones, and traffic flow.

The European tire industry, emphasised Cinaralp, will contribute to finding answers to mobility and environmental questions, “tapping into a knowledge base built up over decades.”