Continental Tires to Invest Around INR 1 Bln in India Manufacturing Expansion
- By TT News
- June 09, 2025
After announcing the discontinuation of the TBR tyre business in India, German premium tyre manufacturer Continental Tires announced on Monday a strategic investment of approximately INR 1,000 million to bolster its passenger car and light truck tyre operations in India as the company positions itself to capture growing demand in the world’s most populous nation.
Last week, the company announced a discontinuation of its Truck and Bus Radial (TBR) tyre business in India, citing intensifying competition and high price sensitivity in the TBR segment.
The investment forms part of Continental’s "in the market, for the market” strategy, which aims to develop products specifically tailored to Indian driving conditions and consumer preferences. The funds will enhance manufacturing capabilities at the company’s existing facilities whilst expanding its passenger car and light truck tyre portfolio.
“With our 'in the market, for the market' approach, we’re aligning our portfolio to reflect the evolving lifestyle needs of Indian drivers, from daily commutes and long-distance travel to changing expectations around comfort, safety, and convenience,” said Samir Gupta, Managing Director of Continental Tires India.
The announcement comes as India’s automotive sector experiences rapid transformation, with utility vehicles emerging as one of the fastest-growing segments. Continental said it sees particular growth potential in larger-inch and ultra-high-performance tyres designed for SUVs, 4x4s, and sporty vehicles.
The company plans to introduce the CrossContact AT2 all-terrain tyre to the Indian market this year, expanding its product range to meet evolving consumer demands.
Continental Transforms Urban Noise Into Engineered Comfort At Milan Design Week 2026
- By TT News
- April 23, 2026
Continental is showcasing ‘The Sound of Premium’, an immersive installation, at Milan Design Week 2026 held at BASE Milano from 20 to 26 April. The experience translates the brand’s advanced tire engineering into a multisensory journey, redefining how urban mobility sounds. Key technologies on display included Continental’s noise-reducing ContiSilent and Urban Silent Technology, which actively lower rolling noise through sound-absorbing materials inside the tire and tread patterns optimised for city speeds.
Cities are dense with movement and noise, where even invisible elements like tyres shape the acoustic environment. Continental’s technologies reduce road noise at its source, enhancing both driving stability and interior comfort. The installation invites visitors to reconsider urban sound not as a nuisance to be eliminated but as an element that can be precisely engineered and controlled.
The exhibition unfolds in three distinct phases: chaos, harmony and quiet. Layered city sounds first create tension and disorientation, then gradually dissolve as rhythm and balance emerge. The journey ends in a state of calm defined not by silence alone but by acoustic precision. A tyre displayed as a design object underscores how engineering can improve urban well‑being.
An interactive installation of 25 touch points allows visitors to shape their own sound environment in real time, activating different acoustic layers through touch. Each participant creates a personal composition reflecting their rhythm and sensitivity. The resulting experience can be recorded and shared via QR code, extending the dialogue between technology and individual expression beyond the exhibition space.
As electric vehicles become more widespread, rolling noise has grown into a dominant source of urban traffic sound. Continental meets this challenge by applying its expertise at the tyre‑road interface, developing measurable reductions in interior noise. Through ‘The Sound of Premium’, the company positions silence not as emptiness but as a performance feature.
Nokian Tyres Launches Long-Term Share Incentive Plan For Executives
- By TT News
- April 23, 2026
Nokian Tyres plc has introduced a new long-term share-based incentive plan for management and key employees, as the company seeks to align executive rewards with shareholder returns.
The board of directors said the Performance Share Plan (PSP) would cover the company’s management and selected key personnel, with the aim of supporting shareholder value creation and reinforcing commitment to strategic objectives.
The plan, titled PSP 2026–2030, comprises three separate plan periods, each with a three-year performance cycle followed by the payment of potential share rewards. The start of each period will be determined by the board, and any rewards will be paid in company shares.
The first phase, PSP 2026–2028, will assess performance against three criteria: relative total shareholder return, weighted at 50 per cent; average return on capital employed (ROCE), at 40 per cent; and a 10 per cent weighting for reduction in Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions intensity.
Subject to meeting these targets, rewards will be delivered by the end of April 2029.
The maximum number of shares that may be distributed under PSP 2026–2028 is 1,258,000, representing the gross value of the rewards before applicable taxes are deducted.
Approximately 100 participants are included in the first plan period, including the president and chief executive and members of the group management team.
Under the plan’s terms, participants who leave the company before rewards are paid will generally forfeit their entitlement.
The president and chief executive, together with other senior executives, must retain 25 per cent of the shares received until their personal shareholding equals their gross annual salary from the preceding year.
The board said no new shares are expected to be issued under the plan, meaning it is not anticipated to dilute the company’s existing share base.
GPSNR And Elucid Commit To Healthcare Partnership For 1,800 Rubber Farmer Households In Côte d'Ivoire
- By TT News
- April 23, 2026
The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) has launched a three-year collaboration with the Berlin-based social enterprise Elucid to provide healthcare access for 1,800 rubber farming households in Côte d’Ivoire. The initiative, funded through GPSNR’s Shared Investment Mechanism, will benefit approximately 9,000 individuals. Financial backing comes from 13 major tyre and rubber manufacturers, including Aeolus Tyre, Apollo Tyres, BKT, Goodyear, Hankook, Kumho Tire, Maxxis International, Nokian Tyres, Prometeon Tyre Group, Sumitomo Riko, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Toyo Tire and Yokohama Rubber. The programme directly confronts a long‑ignored reality within the natural rubber sector: the link between farmer health and supply chain stability.
Côte d’Ivoire ranks 187th out of 195 nations for quality of care, with only 32 percent of essential medicines available publicly. Although two‑thirds of the population are enrolled in national health insurance on paper, fewer than four percent used their card in 2025. Medical emergencies cost the country an estimated 853 million US dollars in cocoa exports in 2017 alone, and with many farmers growing both cocoa and rubber, the implications for the rubber sector are substantial.
The partnership integrates four measures: enrolling families into national insurance, providing an emergency care package covering WHO‑accredited medications, upgrading 15 local health facilities and running community awareness programmes. Elucid’s digital platform will track data in real time. The project aims to increase healthcare visits from under 200 to over 1,800, push insurance enrolment from below 30 percent to above 90 percent and prevent more than 150 catastrophic health expenditure events annually. Half of beneficiaries will be women, and 20 percent children.
Photo credit: Elucid
Farmer enrolment begins in August 2026, with improvements continuing until January 2029. Without reliable healthcare, medical emergencies force farmers to sell assets and abandon farm improvements, creating direct risks for supply chains. The programme seeks to reverse that dynamic, targeting long‑term sustainability by building cooperative capacity to maintain health support for members.
Stefano Savi, CEO, GPSNR, said, “We talk constantly about improving yields and farm management practices, but we’ve missed something fundamental. A farmer who can’t afford to see a doctor when they’re sick or who cannot go to the farm because their child is unwell can’t be productive. Healthcare isn’t separate from supply chain resilience. It’s central to it.”
Sambhavna Biswas, Partnerships Manager, Elucid, said, “This is about demonstrating what’s possible when the private sector invests in making national health systems work for farmers. This model can be replicated across rubber-growing regions and adapted to other agricultural sectors. Everyone in the value chain benefits when the people at its foundation are healthy and economically secure.”
CEAT Establishes German Step-Down Subsidiary CEAT GmbH
- By TT News
- April 23, 2026
CEAT Limited has incorporated a step-down subsidiary in Germany, marking an extension of its overseas corporate structure.
The BSE-listed tyre maker said it had received a certificate of registration on 20th April for the incorporation of CEAT GmbH, a wholly owned step-down subsidiary set up with a capital of €25,000.
The subsidiary is held entirely through a wholly owned arm of CEAT Limited, giving the parent company indirect 100 percent ownership.
The company stated that CEAT GmbH would operate in the automotive tyres and related products segment, including tubes, tracks, flaps and ancillary activities.
As the entity has been newly incorporated, no turnover figures are available.
CEAT said the subsidiary qualifies as a related party, although promoters and group companies have no direct interest in it beyond its status as a step-down subsidiary.
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