Tire Market Trends

The temporary difficulties that the tire industry faced with the onset of sanctions have changed the overall map of supplies of both finished tires and their components. But this does not change the trend of development of the industry itself. It may seem that Chinese manufacturers are beginning to aggressively conquer the market. In part, this is indeed the case, but their share is still too small. Nevertheless, the largest productions and market leaders are already focused on completely different tasks. First and foremost, this is the invention of a new principle of wheel and tire operation.

Almost all major manufacturers, such as Bridgestone, Michelin, Goodyear, Continental, Hankook, are working on their own tire concepts. The main task that manufacturers are solving is to get away from the dependence on pneumatic tires - air pressure from the inside. Michelin has gone the farthest in this regard. Now, there are already serial airless tires called Tweel and Uptis. The company also has more innovative wheel concepts in development, such as the "Vision" wheel.

Other manufacturers, although lagging behind in time, are trying to offer something fundamentally new. For example, Goodyear has presented a vision of the wheel of the future called "Eagle-360". The essence of the new wheel is that it will be a spherical tire that will be suspended from the vehicle using magnetic fields - using technology similar to magnetic levitation train technology. The idea seems interesting, but it's too distant, as it implies large-scale innovations not only in wheels and tires but also in cars and road traffic.
Goodyear also has another interesting concept for the distant future - the "Goodyear Aero concept". The wheel, performing its usual functions, also serves as a blade for the car's takeoff. The idea is also very innovative, but for rush-hour traffic jams, it would have come in handy today.

Hankook is also trying not to lag behind and has already presented interesting concepts of transforming wheels. For each segment of cars, its own type of wheel was presented, which transforms depending on road conditions. This can really solve a number of problems with sports tires and off-road tires.

Realizing the direction in which the major developers are moving, it becomes clear that they are already competing for the market of the future, striving to be the first there.