Toyo to Open Technology Center in Serbia

Toyo Tire announced that it will open a new research and development center at its plant in Inđija (Serbia). The new complex will be used as the company's main development and research center in Europe, and it will take over the functions currently performed by a similar center located in Germany, with the opening planned for early 2027. The company also notes that it will continue to develop interaction between its research and development centers in Japan, the USA, and Europe. 

The Serbian center will focus on improving the operational characteristics of tires, including the development of new materials and rubber compound recipes, as well as the improvement of rubber mixing technologies. In addition, since a testing ground has already been built near the plant, there is an opportunity to immediately test prototypes in real-world conditions, which reduces the time required to create new products. 

Toyo's main research department is based in Japan, and in 2019, Toyo opened technology centers in the USA and Germany. The company says that changes in the mobility sector are creating new requirements for tire manufacturers, and, for example, in recent years, against the backdrop of the development of the electric car market, there has been a growing demand for improved energy efficiency and durability of tires. Moreover, during development, it is necessary to simultaneously improve conflicting characteristics such as economy, traction on wet and snowy roads, wear resistance, and so on. For this reason, interaction between research and development departments in different regions of the world has been strengthened. 

As part of its medium-term strategy, Toyo's research departments focus on three main areas: developing their design capabilities to meet various tire requirements, creating customer-oriented products in shorter periods, and developing next-generation technologies for future mobility.