Bridgestone India’s brand ambassadors and members of the Indian Olympic contingent – Mary Kom, PV Sindhu and Udayan Mane – wished their co-team members the very best in the forthcoming Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

The brand ambassadors were joined by Bridgestone India’s Managing Director, Parag Satpute in wishing the Indian contingent success and laurels in Tokyo.

Bridgestone has been strongly associated with the world of the Olympics through strategic partnerships and collaborations in the past. The upcoming Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 hold a special significance for the company, as they are set to take place in Japan, the home of their global headquarters and the country where the tyre manufacturer was founded 90 years ago.

Parag Satpute, Managing Director, Bridgestone India, said, “We are truly honoured to be associated with our brand ambassadors and it is a matter of pride that Mary Kom will be one of the Indian flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. We believe that harbouring a strong culture of sports and investing in our people will contribute towards the creation of better individuals leading to a holistically developed society.”

Mary Kom said, “My journey with Bridgestone has been eventful and a memorable one. Through my journey, I want to communicate to all my fellow athletes ready to represent India that sports are not for the faint-hearted, especially boxing as a female athlete. The journey is never short of roadblocks. Bridgestone is a brand known for its strength and endurance, and it has risen to the cause of encouraging every upcoming athlete’s sportsman spirit and it resonates deeply with me.”

P V Sindhu said, “As Bridgestone India’s first brand ambassador, I feel thrilled and responsible to talk about my journey and all the tough lessons that have led up to achieving success in the international arena. I would want more Indians to step up to this challenge, and via this platform, I am honoured to be associated with Bridgestone India to spread this message of determination and perseverance. Bridgestone has a strong sports lineage which is further strengthened with their Worldwide Olympic Partnership and we want more Indian athletes to conquer the global Olympic stage.” (TT)

Material solutions company UPM has named Sangeeta Pandey as its new Executive Vice President, Human Resources. She will join the Group Executive Team and report directly to Massimo Reynaudo, President and CEO. Based in Helsinki, Finland, Pandey will take up the position on 1 January 2027.

Bringing extensive international HR experience to her new role, Pandey holds a Master of Science in Executive Coaching, an MBA in Human Resources and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. She previously served as an Independent Executive Advisor & Coach and worked at Metro AG from 2018 to 2025, most recently as Senior Vice President, Global Talent & Organisational Development, overseeing Global HR Centers of Expertise for over 100,000 people across more than 30 countries. Between 2009 and 2018, she held several senior leadership positions at AkzoNobel, including Global Director, Talent, Culture, Learning & Development. She has also worked in senior HR roles at Mahindra & Mahindra, Xerox and Bharat Petroleum/Bharat Shell.

Pandey succeeds Riitta Savonlahti, who has reached her contractual retirement age after leading UPM's human resources function since 2004. Savonlahti will remain in her role and on the Group Executive Team until the end of 2026, leaving the company in the first quarter of 2027 following a successful transition to her successor.

Reynaudo said, "Sangeeta joins us with over 30 years of broad HR leadership experience across Europe, Asia and the Americas and strong business acumen. Her experience in large, complex and multicultural organisations provides a strong foundation to support UPM's strategy and people agenda.

“On behalf of the entire company and the Group Executive Team, I would like to thank Riitta for the significant impact she has had in the strategic transformation of UPM during the past two decades. Her vision, dedication and determination has been instrumental to UPM's performance-led, value-based and human-centric leadership and company culture.”

India’s retreading industry remains caught between its economic potential and structural neglect. Despite commercial vehicle tyres being designed for multiple lives, low casing preservation, rampant overloading, fragmented retreading operations and limited policy attention continue to restrict adoption. Balkrishna Industries Senior President & Director – Business Development and Strategy Satish Sharma believes regulation rather than incentives alone could change that trajectory. He argues that stronger enforcement and casing management could eventually push India’s retreading rate towards 90 percent.

Balkrishna Industries Ltd (BKT) has called for regulatory intervention to expand tyre retreading in India, arguing that market forces alone are unlikely to unlock the potential for extending commercial vehicle tyre life.

Speaking to Tyre Trends, BKT Senior President & Director – Business Development and Strategy Satish Sharma said that India could substantially increase the proportion of tyres receiving a second or subsequent life if policymakers create a supportive regulatory environment and enforce restrictions on commercial vehicle overloading.

“Obviously, to my mind, it needs government intervention. Regulatory intervention is a must to make this flourish,” told Sharma.

He said stakeholders across the tyre and retreading industries need to come together to develop an appropriate policy framework rather than pursue isolated initiatives. While stopping short of prescribing the exact structure of such regulation, Sharma said the fundamental objective should be to make retreading mainstream while tackling overloading, which damages casings and reduces their suitability for subsequent lives.

“The simplistic thing is a mandate that retreading is to be done and the corollary point is that overloading has to be checked,” he said.

Sharma estimated that only around 20–30 percent of the potential retreading opportunity is currently being realised in India and said the proportion could ultimately reach around 90 percent. However, he acknowledged that such a transition would have to take place gradually.

He argued that commercial vehicle tyres are designed to deliver multiple lives, but poor operating practices can destroy casings before they reach the retreading stage. Despite improvements in India’s road infrastructure, Sharma said retreading has not progressed correspondingly.

POTENTIAL CAUSE

According to Sharma, overloading sits at the centre of the problem. Excessive loads can damage not only tyre casings but also vehicles, components and road infrastructure, undermining the economics of extending tyre life.

Sharma said stricter enforcement against overloading could itself provide a major stimulus for retreading without requiring the government to initially introduce financial incentives.

“I think incentives could be phase two. The trade will just flourish if you do the right thing, have good regulation and create the right environment,” he stated.

The call comes as BKT expands into India’s commercial vehicle radial tyre market. The company does not intend to enter the retreading business directly, Sharma said, but views retreading as an integral part of the commercial tyre lifecycle.

BKT has consequently spearheaded its ‘Save the Casing’ programme aimed at helping fleet operators preserve tyre casings during their first life so they remain suitable for retreading. The initiative involves working with end users to identify and avoid operating practices that can prematurely damage casings. “Once they are done with that, we will guide them to go for a retread and get the next life of the product,” Sharma said.

Beyond operating practices, Sharma identified fragmentation as another obstacle facing India’s retreading sector. He characterised much of the industry as cottage-scale with relatively few large, quality-conscious branded operators.

He also questioned recent changes to India’s GST structure. Sharma said new tyres previously attracted 28 percent GST compared with 18 percent for retreading, giving retreading a 10-percentage-point tax advantage. With the rates now aligned at 18 percent, he argued that the previous incentive has disappeared.

“Whatever little incentive was there has also been taken away,” Sharma said, describing the change as potentially an oversight that policymakers could reconsider.

SUPPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE

However, Sharma maintained that neither technology nor technical expertise is the fundamental constraint on the industry’s development. Modern inspection technologies such as shearography can identify internal casing defects, while experienced operators already possess considerable expertise in manually determining whether casings are suitable for another life.

“Casing inspection remains critical. Shearography detects internal defects including trapped air and separations that may not be apparent during conventional inspection. However, the relatively high cost of such equipment means it may remain beyond the reach of many smaller retreaders,” he noted.

He sees the challenge as creating an ecosystem that rewards casing preservation, improves operating practices and gives retreading greater prominence within transport economics.

Sharma also linked the case for retreading with India’s dependence on imported crude oil and rubber. Extending tyre life reduces the requirement for new material and could therefore deliver benefits beyond individual fleet operating costs, he argued.

Retreading also carries a measurable resource advantage. By extending the life of an existing casing, the process reduces the need for fresh inputs and energy-intensive production. Industry estimates suggest that each retreaded tyre can save around 57 litres of oil and 44 kilogrammes of natural rubber, while avoiding roughly 136 kilograms of carbon emissions compared with a new tyre. In that sense, retreading is not just a cost lever for fleets but a straightforward way to improve resource efficiency across the tyre lifecycle.

With tyre prices having increased in recent months, Sharma said the economics of extracting additional life from a casing are becoming increasingly relevant to transport operators.

Sharma also sees an opportunity to improve not only the number of tyres being retreaded but the quality of casings entering the retreading ecosystem. He said the condition of a casing at the end of its first life depends significantly on how the tyre has been operated, with driving behaviour, loading and road-related damage influencing whether it can be used again.

“The casing must come out clean. The wear should be uniform. It should not have irregular, patchy wear,” Sharma said, adding that road abuse and improper repairs can further compromise its suitability for retreading.

PRESENT AVENUES

He nevertheless reiterated that India already possesses considerable human expertise in casing inspection. Experienced operators at retreaders, fleet accounts and casing dealers can manually assess whether a tyre remains suitable for another life.

“If you were to educate them, invest in their training, like the skill programmes that the Government of India is running, that ecosystem can be developed,” Sharma said.

He estimated that experienced casing inspectors can achieve a 95–96 percent success rate in determining whether a casing can be retreaded. Sharma also highlighted the classification of casings into different quality grades, arguing that better tyre management during the first life could improve the economics of subsequent retreading.

“Even if, let’s say, 30 percent of retreading has happened, but if through our programme the C casing can become an A casing, for example, that itself will improve the economics,” he said.

Sharma believes a stronger market could eventually encourage greater investment and consolidation in what remains a fragmented retreading industry. Once businesses recognise a viable commercial opportunity, he expects entrepreneurs to invest in modern retreading facilities and build larger operations.

“There is no dearth of entrepreneurship which will go bigger and get into putting state-of-the-art retreading plants across the length and breadth of the country,” he said, adding that the underlying technology is already well understood.

Sharma pointed to international markets where an established casing supply chain allows retreaders to procure used casings rather than operate solely on a job-work model in which a fleet sends its own casing for retreading and receives the same tyre back.

Such a model, he suggested, could eventually support branded retreaded products in India, with companies sourcing suitable casings, processing them and offering finished retreaded tyres independently.

Sharma said such products can be offered at around half the cost of a new tyre, strengthening the commercial case for building a more organised retreading ecosystem.

For BKT, the objective is not to compete with retreaders but to make the casing and the value embedded in it a more important consideration throughout a commercial tyre’s operating life.

“Retreading needs to be popularised in our country. It will benefit multiple stakeholders. It is good for consumers, the government, transporters and for the tyre industry as well,” Sharma said.

BEYOND RETREADER’S LENS

Sharma believes the debate around retreading needs to move beyond the commercial interests of retreaders and be considered in the wider context of resource utilisation, road infrastructure and transport efficiency.

“Don’t just look at it from a retreader’s lens. Look at why retreading is important,” he said.

According to Sharma, extending the useful life of a tyre casing can reduce the requirement for fresh resources while allowing transporters to extract greater value from an asset already in operation.

He questioned the consistency of promoting recycling and sustainable material use while failing to adequately encourage the reuse of tyre casings that are already designed for multiple lives.

Sharma also linked the issue to India’s broader transport ecosystem, arguing that overloading prematurely consumes resources embedded not only in tyres but across commercial vehicles.

“There are bushes, axles, wheels – and everything is getting impacted. We are talking about recycling in one place and we are destroying the metals and other resources of the planet which can get an extended life,” he said.

This, according to Sharma, is why changing operating behaviour is more important initially than providing financial incentives. He argued that voluntary change has not occurred at the required pace and regulation will therefore have to play a role.

“You have to change behaviour now by regulations,” he said.

Sharma also challenged the industry to reconsider the apparent contradiction between sustainability commitments and the relatively limited attention paid to retreading. While tyre manufacturers increasingly discuss recycled, natural and biodegradable materials in new products, he questioned whether extending the useful life of existing products has received comparable attention.

For BKT, that makes retreading a wider resource-efficiency proposition rather than simply an alternative tyre market. Sharma described it as a ‘low-hanging fruit’ capable of benefiting transporters, tyre companies, government and end users simultaneously.

The challenge, he argued, is getting the subject discussed beyond the relatively small retreading community and into the wider tyre, automotive and policymaking ecosystem.

“It just needs enough contemplation and discussion and conversation in the right rooms, right corridors of power,” Sharma said.

India’s retreading challenge, therefore, is less about technological capability than creating conditions in which preserving a casing makes economic and operational sense.

BKT’s intervention puts regulation and overloading at the centre of that debate; meanwhile, its own casing programme tests whether manufacturers can influence tyre use beyond the first life.

Moving from today’s limited adoption towards Sharma’s 90-percent ambition, however, will require more than advocacy as policymakers, tyre makers, retreaders and fleet operators will need to turn resource efficiency into routine operating practice.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has appointed Jerome Rouquet as Chief Financial Officer, effective 1 December  2026, as the US tyre maker seeks to improve operational performance and maintain financial discipline.

Rouquet will report to Chief Executive Mark Stewart and join the company’s senior leadership team. He currently serves as CFO of Visteon Corporation, where he oversees global financial activities.

Before joining Visteon in 2020, Rouquet held senior finance positions at Tenneco and Federal-Mogul. At Federal-Mogul, he served as CFO, chief accounting officer and controller.

"This is an important addition to our leadership team," said Stewart. "Jerome combines deep financial expertise with a proven ability to help organizations improve performance and navigate transformation. As we continue building momentum and executing our long-term strategy, his leadership and experience will help position Goodyear for success."

Rouquet’s experience spans financial strategy, operational performance, investor relations and public-company finance. His appointment supports Goodyear’s focus on operational improvement, financial discipline and capital allocation to increase shareholder value.

He holds a Master of Business and Management from Institut Supérieur de Gestion in Paris and completed the International Business Management Program at the Manhattan Institute of Management in New York.

Scott Deakin, who has served as interim CFO, will remain in the role until Rouquet joins the company and will support the transition.

Dunlop Tires North America (DTNA), a Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. subsidiary, has appointed Robert Liu as Assistant Vice President of Product Management. Liu brings more than three decades of varied experience in the tyre and automotive sectors to guide the Dunlop and Falken brands through their next stage of product innovation and expansion.

Liu started his career as a simulation engineer at General Motors before spending 27 years at Continental Tire, where he held positions in Product R&D, Sales and Product Management. He also completed a five-year expatriate assignment in Shanghai, leading Product Management and R&D for Asia-Pacific, and most recently directed R&D for the American region with a focus on replacement Passenger Light Truck tyres. In his new role, Liu will lead product development, overseeing PLT and Truck & Bus Radial products with a skilled Product Management team.

Ken Hsu, Vice President – Marketing, DTNA, said, “We are excited to welcome Robert to our team. His extensive experience and proven leadership in the tyre industry align perfectly with our goals for innovation and growth. We believe his insights will greatly benefit our product strategies as we move forward.”