This year’s Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence, held at Deutsche Messe during Tire Technology Expo, featured an expanded array of categories in order to recognise the scope of innovation and achievement that has been showcased over the last 12 months. The winners were announced at an evening drinks reception held at the Deutsche Messe on Tuesday. The night’s winners included Continental, Goodyear, Michelin and Sumitomo Rubber Industries. Now comprising 13 categories, the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence were a celebration of recent advances in tyre technology and progress toward a greener and more sustainable industry. The awards, which were coordinated by Tire Technology International magazine, were officiated by a panel of international journalists and industry experts.

Sustainability in tyre manufacturing
To recognise the increasingly prominent role of sustainability in tyre manufacturing, the new-look awards featured three categories focused on environmental development. Michelin’s 45 percent and 58 percent sustainable material tyre designs picked up the award for Environmental Achievement of the Year – Tire Design. Continental’s invisible rubber marker technology was judged the winner in the Environmental Achievement of the Year – Manufacturing category, and Emissions Analytics’ EQUA Tyre database took home the trophy for Environmental Achievement of the Year – Industry Contribution. Emissions Analytics founder and CEO, Nick Molden, was keen to champion the work of his colleagues.

Other categories
Other new categories for 2023 included Chemicals and Compounding Innovation of the Year, which was won by Nynas’ Nytex BIO 6200 tire oil. Another award was Materials Innovation of the Year, which saw the jury recognise Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ work on synthesised biopolymers. The good news continued for SRI in the category for R&D Breakthrough of the Year, which saw the tyre maker awarded for its research into enzyme evaluation. HF Group was bestowed with the ‘Tire Technology International Supplier Award’.

Goodyear picked up the award for Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year, thanks to its groundbreaking small-batch production process used in its factory in Luxembourg. The Tire Industry Supplier of the Year award was presented to HF Group, in recognition of its commitment to digital solutions and its excellent relationships across the industry. Goodyear was also placed first in the Tire Concept of the Year category for work on its 90 percent sustainable material tyre design.

Chris Helsel, Senior Vice President – Global Operations And Chief Technology Officer, Goodyear, said, “Goodyear’s innovative spirit and drive for excellence helps us develop leading products and services that address our customers’ needs for today and tomorrow. Our teams are working on solutions and processes that have the potential to make driving safer, more efficient and more sustainable. We are excited to be recognised for this work and thank Tire Technology International for these esteemed awards.”

Hannover-based Continental was also back at the podium to collect the Tire of the Year Award for the PremiumContact 7, winning a hotly contested new category which looks set to see some battles in the years to come.

Boris Mergell, Head of Research and Development at Continental Tires, who accepted the awards in Hannover, said, “Our commitment to performance, sustainability and safety runs right across our organisation, and it’s fantastic that once again this has been recognised. Winning awards for both our innovative technologies and products is a tremendous motivation for the entire team. At Continental, we aim for safe, cost-effective and more sustainable mobility, while enabling vehicles to perform at their best."

This year, Michelin took home the The Tire Manufacturer of the Year Award, marking the sixth time that the French manufacturer has claimed top spot. The Young Scientist Prize for 2023 was given to Agate Utane, a PhD student at Loughborough University. The award’s jury – which is separate to the 11 central categories – selected Agate and her work, ‘Efficient Tire-Road Friction Testing for Vehicle Handling Applications’.

Jan Prins was the winner of the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award. Nominated by many of his peers, Prins is a popular winner, and has enjoyed a highly successful career at Jaguar Land Rover since graduating from Delft University of Technology in 1990. Prins recently began heading the judging panel for the Young Scientist Prize. 

Celebrating the tyre industry
Matt Ross, Editor-In-Chief of Tire Technology International and Chairman of the awards, said, “We felt we needed the ability to recognise and celebrate more aspects of this ever-expanding industry. Overhauling the categories gave us the chance to better acknowledge where the really exciting innovation is taking place. It enabled us to focus more on the environmental achievements being developed in multiple areas, and also to zero in on some areas of exciting R&D that didn’t perhaps fit our previous category structure. Judging by the caliber of this year’s shortlist, and the tough time the jury had in choosing their winners, we can expect some fascinating competitions in the coming years.”

For more information about the award winners, visit https://www.tiretechnology-expo.com/en/awards.php 

Pyrum Innovations AG has announced that its Supervisory Board has extended the contract with Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Kai Winkelmann until 31 March 2030 to ensure continuity in the management of the company.

Winkelmann joined the firm in February 2021, and on 1 April 2022, he was initially named to the Executive Board as CFO. He has so far played a major role in obtaining the company's funding during his tenure at Pyrum, including last year's successful capital raise. Winkelmann is in charge of Finance, Compliance and IT in his role on the Executive Board.

Alf Schmidt, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said, “We are pleased about the contract extension of Kai Winkelmann, who has proven his skills and in-depth expertise in the financial sector and at the management level in recent years. Over the last four years, he has made a significant contribution to the development of the necessary administrative structures and to the success of the company, and has promoted its rapid further development. We have confidence in his foresight and are convinced that Winkelmann will continue to play a central role in the successful implementation of the company’s goals in the years to come.”

Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) has been selected once again to continue as a constituent of three internationally renowned environmental, social and governance (ESG) indexes: the MSCI ESG Leaders Indexes, the FTSE4Good Index Series and the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World).

Bridgestone has been a part of the MSCI ESG Leaders Indexes for two years in a row since 2023, the DJSI World for three years in a row since 2022 and the FTSE4Good Index Series for seven years in a row from 2018. Bridgestone's specific Mid Term Business Plan (2024-2026) has been steadily implemented, putting sustainability at the centre of its operations. The company's 2020 vision and Mid-Long Term Business Strategy served as the foundation for the plan.

According to the company statement, “Setting forth the vision of ‘Toward 2050, Bridgestone continues to provide social value and customer value as a sustainable solutions company’, Bridgestone links its business to the realisation of carbon neutrality, a circular economy and nature positivity across the entire value chain. From the ‘produce and sell’ phase and the ‘use’ of its products through to their ‘renewal’ to raw materials, Bridgestone aims to build a foundation for creating sustainability value.”

The following initiatives have contributed to Bridgestone's inclusion in these indexes:

• Contributing to a circular economy and attaining carbon neutrality by using ENLITEN technology to make tyres from recycled and renewable resources, using BCMA and switching to ‘Green & Smart’ manufacturing at Bridgestone locations to increase resource productivity and energy efficiency.
• Encouragement of nature positivity through initiatives for the sustainable use of water resources and natural rubber that are closely related to the commercial operations of the firm, including strengthening assistance for natural rubber smallholders.
• Strengthening of a thorough structure and procedure for human rights due diligence that aims to identify, mitigate, avoid and disclose human rights concerns.
• Visualisation and disclosure of the impact of social contribution actions that are in line with the global goals.

German automotive company and tyre major Continental has been added another feather to its cap with bagging the ‘Tire Manufacturer of the Year’ at this year’s Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence at this year’s Tire Technology Expo.

With this, Continental becomes the only tyre maker to have won two concurrent awards – Tire Manufacturer of the Year and Environmental Achievement of the Year – Manufacturing. The company’s Lousado facility in Portugal was also recognised for manufacturing tyres CO2-neutrally since last year.

Edwin Goudswaard, Head of Research & Development, Continental Tires, said, "We are especially proud to be the only manufacturer to be honoured twice at the Tire Technology Awards in an extremely competitive field. Both awards highlight our strong commitment to sustainable tire development and manufacturing. In such a highly competitive market, this success demonstrates our innovative prowess and our ability to actively shape the future of the industry."

Interestingly, this also marks it the fourth time that the German company has bagged the Tire Manufacturer of the Year award. The awards took into consideration tyre makers globally and were evaluated by a jury of 27 independent industry experts.

Going forward, Continental has outlined its ambition to switch all of its tyre plants to fully carbon-neutral production processes by 2040 at the latest.

Hankook Tire & Technology (Hankook Tire) has appointed Jongseon Ahn and Sanghoon Lee as Executive Directors and new Co-CEOs, following a resolution passed at the Annual General Meeting and Board of Directors meeting held on 26 March.

Ahn will be in charge of Hankook Tire's global innovation, R&D, procurement, production and quality, while Lee will be in charge of global sales and marketing initiatives to strengthen the premium positioning of the company's unified global brand, Hankook, as well as the supply of original equipment (OE) tyres for new vehicles. In addition to the leadership nominations, shareholders approved all eight agenda items at the Annual General Meeting, including the approval of the consolidated financial accounts, partial revisions to the Articles of Incorporation and director appointments.

Ahn has extensive leadership expertise and a proven track record of advancing technology innovation in the operational holding firm, Hankook & Company. He oversaw general management and spearheaded innovative initiatives in 2021 while serving as COO of Hankook & Company and Head of ES (Energy Solution) Business Headquarters. He became the CEO in 2022 and oversaw the company's expansion of premium Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) battery sales into important international markets, which greatly increased profitability and strengthened the company's platform for long-term success.

Lee's vast worldwide leadership experience serves as the foundation for his profound understanding of marketing and global sales strategy. He has held important regional leadership positions in China and Europe since 2018, during which time he has played a crucial role in bolstering the company's premium brand positioning internationally and continuously promoting creative business performance, both of which have greatly increased revenue. At the conclusion of last year, he was nominated as Hankook Tire's Co-CEO due to his success and leadership.