Smart mobility is as relevant as ever, with growing urbanisation rates in almost all countries across the globe. But the concept isn’t new. At least I recall reading about the future of driving when I was very young, and a university project concluded that in the future, cars would be able to connect to each other and slide onto some sort of rail system when driving on the highway, so nobody would have to worry about steering or speeding when covering the long stretches of the journey. Not surprising, the project couldn’t have been more wrong in its conclusion. But why didn’t it work? It would have reduced accidents, pollutant emissions, road wear and maintenance costs, and it would have probably been quite easy to develop guiding chips and software to let cars in and out of the chain.

Well, the answer is simple, and is proven by the fact that car sales are still going up worldwide in spite of an ever-growing range of alternative transportation methods available to the buyers: freedom. As global wealth keeps increasing, all societies can recognize that the first luxury people growing out of poverty take is to buy a car, in many cases even before considering taking out a mortgage to buy a house. Why do they do that? Obviously to signal their increased wealth to the people around them (it’s harder to show if your house is bought or rented), but also to enjoy the freedom of being able to go exactly where they want to go and when. In these corona times being able to move about without bumping into others in public transportation is of course also an important factor. If this wasn’t the case, car sales would be dropping rapidly. Public transportation is cheaper, if you compare it to total cost of ownership of a car it’s easy math, and in many cases it’s also faster and easier. Plus, you can be productive getting some work done or enjoying a good rest when you don’t have to sit at the wheel in a traffic jam.

For those who care about global warming and reducing the environmental impact, there’s even further incentive to get rid of the car, but still, this is not what we see in the new car sales figures – although you could argue that some people buy a new car because it pollutes less than the old one.

Bicycles

With all the new technology, it will be very interesting to see how smart mobility will be implemented in cities across the globe, and if it will change the trend for good. After all, it’s be big cities with massive population numbers that will make a difference for the planet. If we look at a city like Copenhagen, it has for many years focused on being the world’s best city to ride a bicycle in, and it has implemented many innovative structures allowing cyclists to zip from one place to another in a matter of minutes with minimal need to stop along the way. Some places bridges have been built just to cater to cyclists. No doubt you can get around faster and cheaper in Copenhagen if you ride a bike than by any other means of transportation.

Another thing that is becoming increasingly interesting in the big cities is the drone technology, now we have seen Chinese firefighters putting out high-rise fires using drones controlled from the ground, and many places they have also begun working as parcel or food delivery agents. But is there a viable case to argue that we will all be flying in private drone vessels instead of driving in cars in the coming decade? I wouldn’t bet my money on it. First of all, it would take long until the general public would trust a drone manufacturer enough to not fear dropping to the ground or being flung into a building or another drone mid-air at any moment. Second of all, they would most definitely run on electricity, which we know from electric cars means very heavy batteries and/or short operation times. Probably in colder regions you would also struggle with much lower performance during winter, and possibly weather conditions not allowing them to take off.

That’s another nightmare scenario – to be caught in a thunderstorm or hailstorm up in the air.

Naturally, the ultimate challenge would be that everyone would basically need to have a pilot license to operate them, and air traffic control would be an entirely new concept in this scenario. We have all seen movies like Stars Wars or The Fifth Element where flying vehicles somehow get into invisible lanes and layers, but it’s hard to see how that can go from fiction to reality.

Urban hubs

So, how can consumers most likely have their desire for freedom fulfilled within a smart mobility concept? Most likely by creating urban hubs or city line parking facilities, so it’s easy to take the car to, from, or between cities, but not inside them. At these hubs, you would park the car and jump on the next shuttle to anywhere in the city, or even ride a bike that you brought with you. Designing these hubs, along with ample green areas in the cities, is the only way that any city planner can create the grounds for real smart mobility, and not take people’s freedom away from them. Then the only thing left is to address the issue of the environmental impact caused by passenger cars, both combustion engine emissions and tyre pollution from wear during use and waste management at end of tyre life.

Tyre manufacturers don’t seem to be making huge changes to the technology yet, except for a few innovative products like the Michelin Tweel – and the ultimate challenge is of course that the vehicle so far has to be in contact with the road surface to move and handle satisfactorily. It’s hard to imagine any tyre concept where rubber against the road surface isn’t involved, and it’s also hard to imagine any tyre manufacturer supporting such a project, given the massive investments they have in their production equipment, which isn’t easy to readjust to put out something else. Well, at least not any serious manufacturer – there was a Chinese plant that stopped producing tyres this year to start producing face masks instead because of corona demand, but that probably says something about the quality of both products coming out of that factory, and it makes me very interested in reading their mission statement.

Ultimately, for tyre manufacturers to start investing in any game changing product development, we would have to see a development like we have seen with British Tobacco actually advertising against smoking – which is very much in line with the trends of the day but doesn’t seem rational from a business perspective. So, to conclude, I’ll venture a bet that we won’t see any drastic changes in how much smarter our mobility options will become until we either see a scenario that will allow people to experience the same level of freedom as owning a car, drastically reducing the environmental impact from driving and tyre waste, and/or creating cities where it utterly doesn’t make any sense to drive instead of hopping on the city’s smart mobility system, whatever that might turn out to be.

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Sri Trang Group has been recognised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its efforts to promote financial and investment literacy among employees. Pacharin Anuwongwattanachai, Company Secretary of Sri Trang Agro-Industry Public Company Limited (STA), and Thanawan Sa-ngiamsak, Chief Financial Officer of Sri Trang Gloves (Thailand) Public Company Limited (STGT), accepted the ‘Organization Promoting Financial and Investment Literacy for Employees’ certificates on behalf of their respective companies. The ceremony, held under the SEC's Financial Well-being in Workplace project, took place at the Royal Thai Army Club on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road in Bangkok on 9 October 2026.

The SEC accolade underscores Sri Trang Group's dedication to sustainable business practices, especially the social pillar of sustainability that prioritises comprehensive care for employees' quality of life and well-being. STA advances financial, investment and savings literacy through structured and ongoing financial education programmes. All eight categories of the SEC's online financial and investment lessons have been integrated into the companies' self-learning platforms, allowing staff to build skills independently. Training sessions with SEC experts cover financial and investment planning for salaried employees as well as retirement planning for those aged 50 and above and investment planning tailored to individual needs.

Disciplined saving is further encouraged through income and expense tracking, financial health check-ups and discussion groups in which employees exchange insights on managing provident fund investments with expert guidance. These measures help staff strengthen financial security, ease financial worries and sustainably improve the quality of life for themselves and their families. The approach reflects the Group's care for its people alongside its commitment to good corporate governance, aligning with annual reporting disclosures and the corporate governance assessment criteria for Thai listed companies.

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Pirelli's 23-season run as sole official tyre supplier to the FIM Superbike World Championship ended at Jerez de la Frontera during the Pirelli Spanish Round. The Italian manufacturer helped shape the technical identity of the premier production-derived series through continuous product development and innovation while emphasising tyre safety and reliability and cooperating closely with organisers, the federation, manufacturers and teams.

The firm's connection to production-based motorcycle world championship racing dates back to 1989, when it debuted with the Rumi team's Honda RC30 ridden by reigning world champion Fred Merkel. The American narrowly missed the podium at Donington Park but took pole and won both Hungaroring rounds, putting him on course to defend his crown. After withdrawing from major motorcycle racing championships in the 1990s, Pirelli returned in 2004, when the WorldSBK promoter chose it as sole official tyre supplier under an arrangement that marked a turning point in international motorsport.

The company's strategy was straightforward: turning racing into a genuine development laboratory for motorcyclists. In a championship built on production-derived machines, that meant supplying tyres closely resembling products available to the public rather than solutions created exclusively for competition. Pirelli pursued innovation that progressively redefined racing tyre performance and then fed track knowledge back into its road products.

The DIABLO Superbike, launched in 2005, became a benchmark in the racing slick range, and the DIABLO Supercorsa followed in 2007 for support classes, leading in 2008 to the DIABLO Supercorsa SP road tyre. The SC0 compound arrived for the DIABLO Superbike in 2012 and reached the road range a year later. Rims changed from 16.5 to 17 inches in 2013, and 125/70 front and 200/65 rear sizes were introduced in 2018, followed by the SCX supersoft compound in 2019 and the SCQ extrasoft compound in 2022. From 2020, every class ran on slicks.

Across those 23 seasons, Pirelli's role grew into a proactive partnership supporting the championship's development, producing close relationships first with Infront and later with Dorna that extended to marketing and communication. Initiatives originally conceived for Pirelli's guests were gradually opened to the entire paddock, making the championship more attractive for supporters and a wider audience.

The 2026 season underlined that approach, with Pirelli offering riders 17 front and rear solutions combining standard range products with development specifications. The effort brought constant performance gains and fresh milestones, including 10 all-time lap records and 11 race lap records alongside significant race distance improvements. The journey spanned from James Toseland, the first world champion of the Pirelli era in 2004 aboard the Ducati 999 F04, to Nicolò Bulega, who dominated 2026 on the Ducati Panigale V4 R with wins in 36 races. As this chapter closes, the accumulated knowledge will continue to drive Pirelli's tyre development and its commitment to the highest racing levels.

Giorgio Barbier, Pirelli Motorcycle Racing Director, said, “We have developed racing and road tyres for more than two decades. Although our journey in WorldSBK is coming to an end, we will continue to innovate our racing products to boost on-the-road technology and performance. For more than two decades, we turned WorldSBK into an innovation lab and helped organisers, the federation, manufacturers and teams in its evolution. By constantly creating and fine-tuning new compounds, structures and solutions, we have boosted performance and set new records year after year while also generating technology and expertise that went on to be transferred to road tyres. We pursued this quest right through the final season, and it does not end here: the experience gained in WorldSBK will continue to drive Pirelli's leading edge both in motorsport and on the road.

“Despite operating under a single-tyre supplier system and always providing competitive products, our goal has consistently been to improve our game, year after year, by offering state-of-the-art products while paying extremely close attention to market demands. This was especially true in the early years, when end users wanted and needed a pure racing product they could use on the track. We recognised that need, by continuing to develop increasingly better products, and, most of all, by introducing new race-to-road sizes, which became the new benchmark for the sports motorcycles on the market.”

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Birla Carbon has released its 14th annual Sustainability Report, titled ‘Sustainable – Work in Progress’, highlighting ongoing advancements under its ‘Share the Future’ strategy and its ambition to lead the industry.

The company secured an EcoVadis Platinum rating, ranking within the top one percent of over 150,000 assessed firms globally, and achieved a B score in both Climate and Water from CDP – the highest possible for a privately disclosing company. Its Continua SCM reached industrial scale at facilities in Europe and Asia, expanding access to circular material solutions with consistent quality and a quantified carbon footprint reduction.

Additionally, Birla Carbon’s supplier due diligence now spans all 18,171 active vendors, with continuous screening via the NAVEX RiskRate platform and no labour incidents reported to date. The company continues prioritising innovation, operational efficiency, carbon footprint reduction and stakeholder collaboration.

John Loudermilk, President and Chief Executive Officer, Birla Carbon, said, “The transition to a more sustainable future will require our industry to continually rethink how we operate, innovate and collaborate across the value chain. At Birla Carbon, we have remained steadfast in our sustainability aspirations and in supporting our customers as they advance their own sustainability goals. Even amid a year of heightened supply chain disruption and global uncertainty, we continued to move forward with our vision to ‘be the clear leader in the industry’, particularly in sustainability. Sustainability is central to how we grow and create long-term value. This is a journey of continuous progress, and while we are encouraged by how far we have come, we remain equally focused on the work still ahead.”

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Prinx Chengshan took part in the SHACMAN Group Worldwide Partnership Conference in Xi'an on 15–16 October, where dealers, key accounts and industry partners from across the globe gathered. The company attended as a core strategic partner of SHACMAN and acted as exclusive tyre sponsor of the vehicle stunt show, joining domestic and international customers to examine fresh opportunities in the global commercial vehicle sector and help shape a new model of collaborative industry growth.

Cooperation between the two firms has deepened since 2024, centring on original equipment fitment for flagship high-end models including the Delong X5000 and X6000, with products offered domestically and overseas. Dependable product quality and supply chain assurance have enabled Prinx Chengshan to grow into a core tyre supplier to SHACMAN, consistently furnishing tyre solutions for its flagship ranges.

A dedicated stunt driving segment formed part of the conference, with Prinx Chengshan as sole tyre exhibitor backing the performance vehicles. Cars fitted with Chengshan XSTANCE PRO S10 and CDR621 tyres carried out sustained drifts, high-speed turns and other demanding manoeuvres, remaining stable even under extreme conditions such as tyre burnouts and showing strong wear resistance.

Li Wenli, a three-time national truck racing annual finals champion known as China's top heavy truck driver, rated the tyres highly for grip, durability and handling stability. Live demonstration in place of specification presentations made technical strengths tangible, letting partners observe stability under extreme friction and high-torque loads.

The conference allowed the company to strengthen mutual trust and communication with SHACMAN and to showcase its commercial vehicle tyre capabilities; at its 50th anniversary milestone, Prinx Chengshan reiterated its commitment to keep improving its global service network, advance alongside SHACMAN on a new globalisation journey and help build an industrial ecosystem defined by mutual benefit and collaborative development.

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