The winners of this year’s Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence have been announced. The awards, which bring out the very best of innovations and achievements across the tyre industry during the last 12 months, were presented at Deutsche Messe during Tire Technology Expo 2025 this week.

The Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence, which include 12 categories, are an opportunity to recognise the individual accomplishments of some outstanding people while also celebrating recent developments in tyre technology and the industry's transition to a greener and more sustainable one. A group of international journalists and business professionals officiate the awards, which are organised by Tire Technology International magazine.

In the environmental development section, the awards featured three categories. The award for the first category, Advances in Tyre Design, was won by Goodyear for its ElectricDrive Sustainable-Material (EDS) tyre, which represents a significant milestone in Goodyear’s journey towards a more sustainable future. The award for Environmental Achievement of the Year in manufacturing was presented to Continental for the company’s achievements at its Lousado plant in Portugal, which can produce tyres CO2-neutrally at the plant. The Environmental Achievement – Industry Contribution award was won by Nokian Tyres for the world’s first full-scale tyre factory with zero CO2 emissions that it opened in Oradea, Romania.

The Materials Innovation of the Year award was presented to Bekaert for Mega Tensile, a next-generation reinforcement solution that offers a range of sustainability benefits, whereas the R&D Breakthrough of the Year award was won by Sumitomo Rubber Industries for its Active Tread technology, which switches the mechanical properties of the tread compound based on changes in road conditions. VMI won the award for Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year for its MAXX and MILEXX platforms, a full drum monitoring system for the carcass package.

The 2025 Industry Supplier of the Year award was presented to ARP Technologies for its multiple innovations in the tyre curing sector, including servomotor-driven manipulators, new insulation technologies, automated AGV-based mould exchange and automatic bladder exchange technology. Bridgestone emerged as the winner in the Tire Concept of the Year category for its Lunar concept tire, whereas Michelin won the Tire of the Year award with its Primacy 5 in a fierce competition between five outstanding designs. The last main award of the night, the Tire Manufacturer of the Year, was won by Continental.

The Young Scientist Prize for 2025 was given to Katerina Filzer, a PhD student at Twente University in the Netherlands, for her presentation titled ‘An Innovative Method to Incorporate a Devulcanisation Aid into Rubber’. Finally, the Lifetime Achievement Award for this year was presented to Professor Anke Blume, Head of Elastomer Technology and Engineering at the University of Twente.

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Epsilon Carbon Pvt. Ltd. has announced the appointment of Munish Kumar Rathi as its new President and Business Head for Carbon Black.

With more than 25 years of extensive global leadership experience, Rathi brings a strong background in profit and loss management, multi-site manufacturing leadership, strategic planning and business transformation. His career is marked by a demonstrated ability to drive operational excellence and foster sustainable growth across various international markets.

The company is anticipating that his leadership will play a key role as Epsilon Carbon continues to expand its global footprint and accelerate innovation within the carbon black business segment. The organisation has formally welcomed Rathi to the team, expressing confidence in his capacity to guide future strategic initiatives. This move underscores Epsilon Carbon’s commitment to strengthening its leadership team in pursuit of long-term global competitiveness.

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TVS Srichakra has approved capital investment of up to INR 2.2 billion to expand production capacity at its manufacturing facilities in Vellaripatti, Madurai.

The expansion will cover the company’s two-wheeler tyre and off-highway tyre plants, with investment of up to INR 1.1 billion allocated to each facility.

TVS Srichakra said the two-wheeler tyre plant currently has capacity of about 21 million to 23.5  million tyres a year and operates at utilisation levels of around 80 to 85 percent. The company plans to add about 5 percent capacity, with completion targeted in the first half of FY2028-29.

The off-highway tyre plant has existing capacity of about 75 to 85 metric tonnes a year and operates at utilisation levels of 75 to 80 percent. TVS Srichakra plans to increase capacity at the plant by about 25 percent, with the addition scheduled for the first half of FY2027-28.

The company said the investment would be financed through a combination of internal accruals and debt.

TVS Srichakra said the expansion is intended to meet growing demand for its two- and three-wheeler tyres and off-highway tyre products.

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JK Tyre & Industries reported record consolidated revenue of INR 163.84 billion for FY26, registering an 11 percent year-on-year increase, supported by strong domestic demand and volume growth across key tyre segments.

The company’s consolidated EBITDA rose 25 percent to INR 20.89 billion, with EBITDA margin improving to 12.8 percent.

Profit before tax increased 46 percent to INR 10.43 billion, while profit after tax climbed 52 percent to INR 8.60 billion during FY26.

For the fourth quarter, consolidated revenue rose 12 percent year-on-year to INR 42.33 billion.

Quarterly EBITDA surged 42 percent to INR 5.46 billion, with margin at 12.9 percent, while Q4 PAT nearly doubled, rising 94 percent to INR 1.99 billion.

Chairman and Managing Director Dr Raghupati Singhania described FY26 as a year of robust performance, highlighting record volumes in both truck and bus radial and passenger car radial categories.

Domestic sales volumes during Q4 grew 21 percent overall. Truck and bus radial replacement volumes increased 53 per cent, while OEM demand in the segment rose 23 percent. Passenger car radial replacement volumes were up 26 percent and OEM demand increased 10 percent.

The company said growth momentum was expected to continue into FY27, supported by new vehicle launches, infrastructure development and sustained replacement demand.

JK Tyre also highlighted strong traction in electric mobility. More than 70 per cent of electric buses operating in India currently run on its tyres, while the company supplies EV tyres to nearly eight two-wheeler OEMs and has secured orders for electric passenger vehicle models including Renault Duster EV, Hyundai Creta EV and Tata Motors’ Nexon and Punch EV variants.

Its Mexico business, operated through JK Tornel, contributed nearly 20 per cent of consolidated revenue and is expected to maintain growth across Mexican, Latin American and US markets.

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The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) has elected David Cichocki, Managing Director, Americas, and chief sales officer, Americas Consumer, at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, to its board of directors.

“I’m pleased to welcome David to our Board. His extensive experience and expertise across the tire and consumer goods industries will be invaluable as we navigate today’s complex industry,” said Anne Forristall Luke, USTMA president and chief executive. “His proven leadership will strengthen our ability to seize emerging opportunities.”

Cichocki joined Goodyear in early 2026 and is responsible for overseeing the Americas region and leading the company’s Americas Consumer sales business.

He brings more than 30 years of leadership experience across industrial and consumer goods companies to the USTMA board.

Before joining Goodyear, Cichocki served as senior vice-president of US sales at Whirlpool, where he managed a portfolio valued at more than $10bn across retail and direct-to-consumer channels.

He also spent more than 20 years at Kraft Foods and Nabisco in a range of senior leadership roles.

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