What kind of products does Uzer Makina offer to global tyre industry?

Uzer Makina has been serving top tyre makers all around the world with its tyre curing presses and molds since 1978. Our press product category consists of mechanical and hydraulic presses for all kinds of tyres; while mold category includes tread segments, sidewall plates, container mechanisms, AG molds and bladder molds.

Tell us about the evolution of the company as a global leader

The company was founded by Selahattin Uzuner and his nephew Bahattin Ertuğ. At first, the company was working for petrochemical industry in Turkey and later on started to make mold maintenance activities for various tyre companies in Kocaeli. First mold was manufactured 1984. Nearly 10 years later, Uzer Makina started to manufacture tyre curing presses again for plants in İzmit. In 2000, the plant was moved to Kartepe, Kocaeli, where it  is currently located. In 2004, first hydraulic tyre curing press is manufactured and in 2007 Uzer Makina designed, manufactured and internationally patented its popular product Floating Column Hydraulic Press. Until late 2000s, the company mostly served domestic market. After 2010, we started to supply a good amount of its products abroad as well. With an aggressive growth strategy, Uzer Makina invested in buildings, brand-new equipment, human resources and expanded production in last five years to become a global player in tyre curing equipment market. We now serve top tyre makers and their plants in more than 40 countries.

What is the latest step in your expansion process?

After doubling capacity in 2018 by separating press and mold factory, Uzer Makina has completed another expansion by June 2020. This new facility is entirely dedicated for pre-production activities, including storing steel raw materials, cutting, bending, construction, welding, sandblasting and heat treatment serving both for tyre curing press and mold categories which used to be a part of press manufacturing facility before. Uzer Makina also moved its HQ office from mold factory to press factory.

Investment decision was made at the end of 2019 by the top management before Covid-19 pandemic with the goal of decreasing the costs by decreasing the amount of manufacturing activities which are outsourced. Following this decision, Uzer Makina has acquired 9500 m² land just next to existing press manufacturing facility and finished 6500 m² building in less than 7 months.

Uzer Makina also has added brand-new pre-production equipment like heat treatment furnace, sandblasting machine and bending machine. With these new machinery investment, Uzer Makina is planning to decrease the cost per product and production time while increasing the total quality of the processes by taking these operations in house rather than outsourcing them.

This expansion enables Uzer Makina to better use the existing press manufacturing facility. Since pre-production occupied a good amount of space before leaving the building, remaining place is now used for press manufacturing and assembly. Therefore, Uzer Makina is able to manufacture more presses at the same time compared to previous set-up. Uzer Makina has also made machinery investments for existing press area as well including automated spray-painting booth for painting press bodies/parts and vertical turning machine with 3 meters turning diameter which would mainly be used for parts of bigger (over 85”) mechanical presses.            

What are the features of the new SUV & TBR Floating Column Hydraulic Press?

A new era for SUV & TBR tyre curing has begun as Uzer Makina announced the development of SUV & TBR version of its most popular and internationally patented Floating Column Type Hydraulic Press in the last Tyre Technology Expo. Uzer Makina dispatched the first 65” Floating Column Hydraulic Type Curing Press at the end of 2020. This new version outweighs the existing solution Frame Type which used to be the industry standard almost in every aspect. It offers a simpler design, the construction weights much less, has fewer components, maintenance requirements are lower and finally the energy requirement is lesser compared to Frame Type. Besides, most importantly, pricewise there is no significant difference between these two types.

On the other hand, tyre manufacturers will be able to benefit all the advantages of the internationally patented Floating Column Technology for curing of larger tyres. Floating Column Technology provides fully automatic mold height adjustment and therefore eliminates the need for conventional mold height adjustment systems. The technology features two squeezing cylinders under the columns on both sides of each cavity. The piston rods of these cylinders are directly connected to the columns. Besides applying squeezing force, these cylinders also change the position of the locking point, which is located on the columns for adjustment of mold height. Therefore, the press does not need multiple locking points and can work perfectly well with just one. Columns rise at the end of each cycle and release the locking plates from grooves, meaning the locking mechanism can work without jamming.

In addition to these, Uzer Makina is able to construct this new size Floating Column Type Hydraulic Press as V-Shape as well in order to save space. The V-Shape design enables tyre manufacturers to use the curing press area at least 12% more efficiently, in other words, tyre producers would be able to place 112 curing presses in an area that was previously large enough for 100 machines. This concept was developed by Uzer Makina engineers in response to the recent market demand for upgrading existing machines in tyre production plants.

On the other hand, Uzer Makina have been recently putting so much effort to increase energy efficiency on the presses and therefore help tyre manufacturers to comply with the latest European regulations. With this object in mind, Uzer Makina has developed “Energy Saver Steam Hoses” as a subsidiary product that would work both with Uzer Makina presses and others. With these hoses, one can save up to 5% energy per press which is equal huge amount of energy considering the fact that tyre curing is the most energy consumer process of tyre production. These hoses also prevent curing area from overheating. In case there is an effort to cool down the area, there is no need for it or at least it requires much less effort to keep the curing area at normal temperature.

Uzer Makina is not solely a tyre curing press and mold producer – the company also strives to improve the efficiency of the entire curing process. Uzer Makina places great emphasis on digitization and designs its presses to be fully compatible with Industry 4.0 requirements such as EMS, AGV, SCADA, MES and ERP systems. In addition, the company conducts its own research and also works with leading industry companies to offer solutions such as mold pre-heating presses, mold changing pickup cranes and RFID mold management systems – to help tyre manufacturers achieve the most efficient curing processes.

How did the company take on the pandemic?

Even though pandemic conditions were very challenging for tyre industry especially in terms of demand last year, 2021 is very promising also for Uzer Makina. There are many reasons for this: firstly, because of US tariffs against Asian tyre makers, Turkey & Eastern Europe has become a very attractive country for capacity increase for tyre production. Almost all tyre makers in Turkey runs at full capacity and some of them already is expanding. Secondly, there has been a global change in transportation as many people now prefers to move more individually than ever, this probably will eventually affect the number of tyres produced globally. Uzer Makina started to feel this rebound in the demand as many existing customers has decided to restart their previously on hold orders and requesting inquiries for new equipment, and it is also a known fact that quite a few tyre makers are making new greenfield & expansion projects. As Uzer Makina continues to improve its reputation in the market year by year, this rebound will have much more positive effect on the company.

In the pandemic period, like all other companies, Uzer Makina also had to transform the way to operate business into more digital. Now in Uzer Makina, all internal meetings are video meetings. Since travelling abroad is still an issue, nearly all the meetings with customers and suppliers are done via video calls too. Uzer Makina enriched the content of the installation and commissioning materials and provided remote support in order to help the customers which cannot accept people to their plants because of travelling bans. (TT)

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Pirelli has confirmed it will bring the same tyre allocation used last year to the Singapore Grand Prix, as Formula 1 remains in Asia for a weekend that also hosts the season's final Sprint and concludes a long triple-header that started in Baku. The Marina Bay circuit, one of the most physically demanding venues for drivers, will again feature the C3 as Hard, the C4 as Medium and the C5 as Soft.

The 4.940-kilometre street circuit is characterised by barriers close to the racing line and limited overtaking opportunities. Changes made to the third sector in 2023 increased the number of high-speed sections, making the lap smoother and faster than before. Although some straights are present, the track remains defined by numerous braking and traction phases across its 19 corners, allowing modern power units to recover energy throughout the lap.

Marina Bay has a medium-to-high level of surface roughness for a street circuit. Since no resurfacing has taken place, values are expected to be broadly in line with last season, if not slightly higher. Track evolution will be significant over the weekend, while intermittent rainfall typical of the equatorial climate can influence grip levels and alter conditions from one session to the next.

The race is held at night, with track temperatures between 30 and 35 °C. Under these conditions, tyres tend to operate within their working window without particular overheating concerns. Mechanical stress is not especially high, and expected degradation will mainly be linked to the normal performance drop-off of the rear axle during traction phases. Graining and wear are also not expected to become limiting factors in race management.

Strategically, Singapore remains one of the races where a one-stop strategy is the preferred option, also considering time lost in the pit lane and the frequent likelihood of neutralisations. While Hard and Medium are again expected to be the reference compounds for the race, the Soft could receive greater consideration on Sunday from more than one team. The softest compound has shown at Budapest, Monza and Baku that it allows drivers to maintain a strong pace thanks to limited degradation, while offering an advantage in grip and confidence. These characteristics could prove even more valuable at a circuit known for significant track evolution.

Latest-generation cars also appear to make better use of softer compounds, allowing the softer end of the range to be used for longer and more competitive stints than in the past. It would therefore come as no surprise to see the red-sidewalled tyre used in Saturday's Sprint or more extensive C5 use throughout the weekend. Medium and Soft were chosen for the opening part of the race, with 14 drivers starting on the C4 and the remainder on the C5, while the Hard was ruled out because the track was still damp after earlier rain. The C3 then became the preferred compound for the second stint, and almost the entire grid completed a one-stop race, with only three drivers opting for two stops.

This will be the seventeenth edition of the Singapore Grand Prix, held continuously since 2008 with the only interruption caused by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Sebastian Vettel leads drivers with five victories and Lewis Hamilton has four, while Mercedes leads constructors with five wins. The podium cap will feature an orchid-inspired design, celebrated in Singapore for thriving in heat, humidity and heavy rainfall. The special edition Pirelli Podium Cap is produced by Pirelli Design and signed by designer Denis Dekovic.

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Tyres Europe has released a position paper urging the European Union to deploy trade defence instruments more strategically and responsively. The paper argues that measures must remain effective after adoption and tackle distortions that shift across countries, companies and value chains.

The bloc's tyre sector relies heavily on capital investment and specialised know-how, supporting more than 70 manufacturing sites, retreading operations included, plus roughly 20 R&D hubs. Of the approximately 398 million tyres fitted across the EU during 2024, close to 40 percent came from outside the Union. Meanwhile, nine European plant closures have been announced over the last two years, putting over 4,400 jobs at risk.

Two recent episodes underscore the gaps. In the passenger car and light truck tyre case involving China, Brussels launched its probe in May 2025, yet definitive duties did not land until 8 July 2026, by which time sourcing had already migrated elsewhere. For truck and bus tyres, the pressure surfaced only after the 2018 measures took hold. China's share of EU27 and UK imports tumbled from 73 percent in 2017 to under 21 percent by 2019, but Thailand and Vietnam together surged from below 3 percent in 2017 to almost 61 percent in the first five months of 2026. Both cases show trade patterns moving faster than Europe's response, whether before or after duties.

The paper presses the European Commission to move sooner, keep measures potent post-adoption and act as one coordinated system. That entails wiring monitoring, industry insight, investigations and enforcement together from the earliest signal, running systematic post-measure tracking and industry dialogue and aligning trade defence with the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, investment screening and procurement. It further recommends starting work now on a supplementary, WTO-compatible answer to systemic distortions.

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Kenda Tires has introduced the KENDA K-SERIES RIPPER, a new tyre aimed at modern trail and all-mountain riders seeking speed, control and confidence across varied terrain. The model combines an aggressive yet fast-rolling tread design with dual-layer compound technology and a durable Trail Casing, positioning it as a versatile option from hardpack trails to technical descents.

The RIPPER is intended to fill the space between lightweight cross-country and downcountry tyres and heavier enduro offerings. According to Kenda, it addresses demand for a tyre that climbs efficiently, corners predictably and remains reassuring when trails become difficult, giving riders a single do-it-all solution.

Its neutral-void tread pattern is designed to balance rolling efficiency with traction. Large, broad-based knobs support braking performance and cornering stability, while the layout aims to deliver predictable handling as conditions change. A dual-layer compound pairs a high-traction trail compound with a fast-rolling base layer, enhancing grip on loose or technical ground while preserving efficiency and durability.

A robust Trail Casing is said to balance protection, durability and ride quality for aggressive trail riding and modern e-MTB use. An optimised 62 mm casing and tread width, a stable casing profile and optimised mould design contribute to confidence at the limit. Kenda describes the result as a long-lasting, high-mileage tyre combining speed, grip and durability for riders unwilling to choose between efficiency and capability.

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The Tire Industry Project (TIP) has appointed Dr Willie Peijnenburg to its external Assurance Group (AG), an independent advisory committee that guides the organisation's research programs.

Dr Peijnenburg serves as Professor of Environmental Toxicology and Biodiversity at Leiden University in the Netherlands and works as a Senior Researcher at the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).

His academic work covers environmental risk assessment, ecotoxicology, predictive modelling and the behaviour of emerging contaminants in ecosystems. He joins five other independent members on the committee.

"Questions around environmental emissions, chemical safety and the sustainability of mobility systems are becoming increasingly important. I was drawn to TIP’s Assurance Group by the opportunity to contribute to conversations that have real-world relevance. I look forward to working with fellow Assurance Group members to support robust, transparent science and evidence-based decision-making." said Dr Peijnenburg.

The organisation also announced the departure of committee members Dr John Spengler of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Dr Iseult Lynch of the University of Birmingham, noting their contributions to the research oversight body.

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