(From left) Nikolai Setzer and Christian Kötz

The Supervisory Board of Continental AG confirmed a significant leadership transition during its meeting on 17 December 2025. Christian Kötz will be appointed as the new Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 January 2026. He succeeds Nikolai Setzer, who will step down from the Executive Board on 31 December 2025. Setzer's departure follows more than 16 years as a board member, including the last five years in the CEO role, and occurs by mutual agreement as the company reaches a pivotal point in its strategic evolution.

This planned change in leadership aligns with the substantial progress Continental has made in its transformation into a pure-play tyre company. Major structural milestones have been achieved, including the spin-off of Aumovio and the signing of an agreement to sell the Original Equipment Solutions (OESL) business area. Regarding the planned 2026 sale of ContiTech, internal preparations are largely complete. The market outreach phase has concluded, and a structured sales process is scheduled to begin in January 2026, setting the stage for the final step in the corporate realignment.

Kötz’s extensive background within the tyre business, dating back to 1996, positions him to lead this final phase. A member of the Executive Board since 2019, his previous leadership roles within the Tires group sector included responsibility for the passenger car tyre replacement business in the EMEA region, the original equipment and commercial vehicle tyre business units and global research and development for passenger car tyres. His many years of trusted collaboration with Nikolai Setzer are expected to ensure continuity during the transition.

Kötz will lead an Executive Board comprising several key figures. Alongside him and Philip Nelles, who has headed the ContiTech group sector since 2021, are Roland Welzbacher and Ulrike Hintze. Welzbacher joined the board in August 2025 and assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer on 1 October 2025. Hintze was appointed to the board on 1 July 2025, serving as Chief Human Resources Officer and Director of Labour Relations. This board will be responsible for driving the tyre business forward, completing the corporate realignment and, following the sale of ContiTech, integrating the remaining group functions into the tyre organisation.

Wolfgang Reitzle, Chairman of Continental’s Supervisory Board, said, “Nikolai Setzer has been instrumental in shaping Continental, realigning the organisation and paving the way for three strong, independent companies. For this, he has the thanks of the entire Supervisory Board as well as my personal gratitude. With this handover, we are consolidating responsibility for the tyre business, the realignment and the remaining tasks of the group functions in one role. Christian Kötz is one of the most distinguished managers in the global tyre industry. With his extensive experience and passion for Continental, we firmly believe he is the right choice to lead the company successfully into the future.”

Setzer said, “In recent years, we have succeeded in transforming a diverse portfolio of businesses into three strong, independent champions. After 28 years at Continental, now is the right time for me to hand over responsibility to Christian Kötz. I’m extremely grateful for the journey we’ve all shared and proud of what we’ve all achieved together. I firmly believe that the tyre business, ContiTech, Aumovio and OESL have a promising future ahead.”

Kötz said, “I would like to thank the Supervisory Board for its trust and am excited about this new responsibility. Continental has been my professional home for three decades. Together with the Executive Board team and all colleagues throughout the company, we will complete the realignment and continue the success story of our tyre business.”

Balkrishna Industries Ltd (BKT Tires), a global leader in off-highway tyre manufacturing, has appointed Craig Borman as Head of OTR at BKT USA. The appointment is in line with BKT’s long-term strategy through 2030.

Borman brings with him 20 years of experience across off-road equipment, tyres and rubber tracks. He will play a key role in leading BKT USA's OTR team and expanding the company's presence in this market while increasing awareness of the value and dependability of BKT's range of products.

Borman said, “I’m extremely excited to join the BKT family and to build off the successes that this team has already achieved. I look forward to engaging with our partners, determining how we can accelerate our mutual growth and working towards achieving BKT’s vision of being a recognised leader in the OTR segment.”

Following the 2025 General Assembly, Law Hieling has been elected to the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) Executive Committee to represent the Manufacturer category. His 27-year international career at Michelin, encompassing roles in finance, commercial sales, distribution and his current leadership in natural rubber purchasing, provides a profound, ground-level understanding of the global tyre industry.

This extensive background has given him a clear appreciation for the intricate balance between commercial needs and ecological responsibility. He is committed to leveraging this perspective to help drive the collaborative, transparent and equitable solutions that are essential for a genuinely sustainable natural rubber value chain, benefiting both people and the planet.

Hieling said, “I look forward to contributing to the work of the Executive Committee in advancing responsible practices across the natural rubber sector.”

Pirelli has confirmed that all five of its new slick tyre compounds will be used during the first three races of the 2026 Formula One season, beginning with Australia, China and Japan.

The Italian tyre supplier said the compound selections for the opening races mirror the approach taken in 2025, with nominations spanning from the hardest to the softest compounds to suit varying circuit demands.

For the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, scheduled for March 6–8, teams will have access to the C3, C4 and C5 compounds. The same combination in 2024 led to a two-stop race strategy using all three tyres. Earlier this year, however, variable weather conditions limited the use of slicks, with intermediate tyres required for much of the race.

At the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, from March 13–16, Pirelli has selected the mid-range compounds: C2, C3 and C4. The 5.451-kilometre circuit, which was fully resurfaced this year, places average lateral and longitudinal loads on the tyres, with greater wear on the left-hand side of the car. Shanghai will again host the first sprint weekend of the season.

Suzuka, which hosts the Japanese Grand Prix from March 27–29, will require the hardest allocation, with C1, C2 and C3 nominated. The circuit is regarded as one of the most demanding on tyres. In 2025, low track temperatures and reduced graining allowed drivers to complete the race with a single pit stop, whereas higher thermal degradation in 2024 required at least two stops.

Drivers will arrive in Melbourne after an extended pre-season testing programme. The first test will take place behind closed doors in Barcelona from January 26–30, marking the first on-track running of the new tyres on 2026-specification cars. Each team will select three days of running during the five-day test. Two further tests will be held in Bahrain, from February 11–13 and February 18–20.

Pirelli said the use of all five slick compounds across the opening races will allow it to assess performance gaps between the tyres under competitive conditions, as well as their resistance to graining and overheating. The data will be used to inform compound selections for the European rounds later in the season.

As the world grapples with the environmental challenges of discarded tyres, IIT Bombay researchers are developing sustainable solutions by repurposing waste rubber into innovative construction materials. Nilesh Wadhwa reports on how their work not only aims to mitigate landfill waste but also offers unique thermal, electrical and structural benefits for future infrastructure.

With over a billion tyres discarded globally each year, the world faces an escalating crisis in managing tyre waste. Beyond the mounds of rubber in landfills, the environmental and health hazards from tyre degradation, microplastics and toxic emissions are profound. However, a team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay is charting a sustainable path forward. By transforming waste tyres into innovative construction materials – Rubcrete, which is a form of concrete mixed with shredded waste tyres. This is said to not only provide strength to the material but also make it more environmentally friendly. The idea is to turn an environmental problem into a valuable resource for civil engineering.

In an interaction with Tyre Trends, Prithvendra Singh, a principal researcher at IIT Bombay, explained the motivations behind this ground-breaking research. “The main aim of this research was to address the dual challenge of excessive end-of-life tyre (ELT) accumulation and the unsustainable depletion of natural aggregates due to ever-rising demand in infrastructural development,” he stated.

By converting waste rubber into engineered rubber aggregates (RA) and rubber-plastic blends (RPB), the team seeks to not only reduce landfill dependency but also enhance the sustainability of construction materials.

This pioneering approach is timely. The sheer scale of tyre waste, with millions of tonnes generated annually, has far-reaching consequences. Tyres are durable, non-biodegradable and pose serious fire hazards.

“One of the most overlooked issues is the generation of microplastics and toxic volatile compounds through tyre wear and tear, degradation, weathering or fires. Landfilled rubber fires can take months to extinguish and result in the emission of carcinogenic gases. These pose risks to human health and ecosystems, and their long-term contamination potential – especially via water, soil and air – is often overlooked in conventional waste management frameworks,” emphasised Singh.

FROM LAB TO FIELD

The IIT Bombay team’s research has revealed promising properties in both RA and RPB, which could revolutionise the use of secondary materials in civil engineering.

Singh elaborated on the mechanical characteristics, “RA and RPB exhibit significantly lower stiffness and higher deformability than natural aggregates, which makes them suitable for specific geoenvironmental applications but limits their use under high structural loads.”

While these properties may exclude them from load-bearing infrastructure, they open up opportunities in other areas. “Despite their lower mechanical strength, both materials demonstrate promising insulation characteristics and environmental safety under controlled conditions,” Singh added.

Thermal and electrical insulation capabilities are where these materials truly shine. “Both RA and RPB have superior thermal resistivity compared to standard sand, confirming their suitability for thermal insulation. Electrically, dry RPB shows the lowest conductivity, making it highly suitable for electrical insulation applications. Both materials also act as excellent dielectric materials over a broad frequency range,” Singh explained.

These characteristics make them ideal for construction projects where insulation and resistance to extreme temperatures or electrical fields are critical, such as in utility corridors or specialised building applications.

However, the journey from laboratory research to real-world applications is not without its challenges. “The lower stiffness of RA leads to higher vertical deformation under applied loads, making them less suitable for high-load applications such as base layers of highways,” Singh pointed out.

“However, they are ideal for lightweight fill applications like embankments or drainage layers, where flexibility and energy absorption are more beneficial than stiffness,” he added.

This insight highlights the potential for using RA and RPB in applications where traditional materials fall short, such as in earthquake-prone regions or on unstable soils where flexibility can mitigate damage. The process of creating RA and RPB depends heavily on the methods used to shred and process waste tyres.

SHREDDING METHODS: BALANCING COSTS AND PERFORMANCE

Singh outlined the pros and cons of various shredding technologies. “Ambient shredding is cost-effective but produces rough-surfaced particles, which exhibit better interaction in cement and polymer composites,” he noted. “Cryogenic shredding yields smoother particles with a broader size distribution but poorer bonding characteristics, and the created particles are generally suitable for turf or sports surfaces. Water-jet grinding offers finer control over particle size but comes at high energy and equipment costs.”

Each method results in materials with distinct properties, influencing their performance in construction applications.

Real-world validation is a crucial step in advancing this technology. To this end, IIT Bombay has partnered with GRP India, a leader in rubber recycling.

“We are currently collaborating with GRP to venture into production and field applications of these sustainable aggregates,” Singh revealed. “This partnership provides a foundation for scaling up through industrial-grade shredding, blending and real-world performance validation.”

These collaborations not only bring academic research closer to commercial implementation but also offer a model for future partnerships between academia and industry.

Of course, environmental safety remains a central concern in adopting new construction materials, especially those derived from waste. Leaching of metals and organic contaminants can pose long-term risks if not properly managed.

Singh’s team addressed these concerns through rigorous testing. “ICP-AES analysis showed that heavy metals like Pb and Zn are present in low concentrations, well within permissible limits,” he reported. “Previous studies corroborate that such materials typically stay within permissible toxicity limits under standard conditions. However, long-term leaching behaviour under varied field conditions remains necessary to confirm safety under varying environmental exposures.” This underscores the need for comprehensive testing and monitoring to ensure environmental safety.

THE ROAD AHEAD

Looking forward, IIT Bombay’s research agenda is ambitious. Singh described plans for further experimentation to expand the applications of RA and RPB. “We are currently planning long-term loading-unloading experiments and elevated temperature testing to establish the thermo-mechanical response of RA and RPB under realistic field stresses,” he said. “These experiments aim to address limitations in durability data and expand application potential. Also, future experiments will simulate realistic landfill environments, including interactions with leachate, microbes, humidity and temperature, to understand long-term behaviour.” Such studies will be essential for certifying these materials for broader use in civil engineering.

Could tyre-derived materials eventually replace traditional aggregates in certain applications? Singh is optimistic. “Yes, particularly in non-structural or semi-structural applications such as leachate drainage layers, landfill covers, thermal insulation barriers and lightweight embankments. The lightweight, high porosity and insulation capabilities of the RA and RPB present unique advantages that traditional aggregates cannot provide,” he said.

This vision aligns with global efforts to promote circular economies and reduce reliance on finite natural resources.

Responding to his expectations from the industry, Singh stated that stakeholders need to support the integration of sustainable materials into mainstream construction.

“The message I would like to convey to the academicians, tyre industry stakeholders and policymakers is to embrace innovation through cross-sectoral collaboration. Sustainable solutions like RA and RPB not only offer environmental remediation but also open new markets for green construction materials. With the right policy incentives, certification frameworks and industry support, we can mainstream these materials and accelerate the transition towards a circular, resilient economy,” he said.

IIT Bombay’s work exemplifies how innovative research, when coupled with industry collaboration and policy support, can turn a pressing environmental problem into a sustainable solution. By reimagining waste as a resource, Singh and his team aim to not only address the tyre waste crisis but also lay the groundwork for more resilient and eco-friendly infrastructure in the future.