Tyres and the Tyre Industry – The Future Still Looks Bright

As the author of this article, I write with the benefit of 35 years in the tyre industry, specifically in the supporting category of supplying equipment, such as tyre changers and wheel balancers.

I have worked through two very serious economic recessions, both of which had an undoubtedly negative effect on trade, but that came with a kind of ‘safeguard’ that countered the negativity. That safeguard related to the fact that, whilst business was affected, in simple terms, it could have been worse!

It was the recession in 2007 I remember most vividly, not because it is the most recent of the two, but because by that time I was in business for myself, and the effects obviously felt far more concerning when you are carrying the weight of having ultimate responsibility for people and cashflow.

Before I dive into my reasoning around why, actually, I look back on that recession with a certain degree of positivity, let’s consider what risks a future in the tyre business carries outside of pure financial stability.

If you are in the business of selling tyre machines to companies who are in the business of selling tyres, your main concern outside of product quality and desirability is that of demand.

Not for the first time in my career, a new piece of technology has come along which has people talking about the future of the conventional pneumatic tyre. Will we still need them? Will, one day, a product come along that changes the whole landscape and will render that traditional tyre, and therefore the machines that fit and remove them, and therefore me(!), effectively redundant?!

The latest development that has come along and provoked this debate is that of the new ‘Uptis’ wheel assembly from Michelin. My first introduction to the concept came about during a conversation with a consumer, who has no connections with the tyre industry, but who had read an article in a motoring publication about a new product, which was then described to me albeit without the actual brand name or manufacturer. The interpretation following reading that article lead to me being asked the question, ‘how will this affect you and your business if this is the future?’. Having to admit no prior knowledge, I had to go away and do some digging and eventually established the new product in question was the Michelin Uptis. Before discussing any potential effect on someone selling tyre equipment, let’s take a look at Uptis and exactly what it is.

Uptis stands for Unique Puncture-Proof Tire System and, as the name clearly suggests, it is designed to be puncture-proof and, therefore, a progression from the Run-Flat tyre.

There is no air inside the Uptis as there is with a traditional pneumatic tyre, instead using a structure which provides load-bearing capability and, subsequently, a replacement for air. This structure is made from a kind of reinforced plastic, whose properties allow for a degree of flexibility whilst retaining its shape. This combination of specialist, patented materials set out in a kind of ‘multiple spoke’ design, and typical, traditional rubber with conventional tread patter, means that there is no opportunity for a puncture. This, in turn, means there is also no chance of a blow out at high speed, or need to check air pressures. This combination of convenience and safety all makes for a promising concept.

However, it is not yet being touted for mass production, with current reports suggesting it is aimed at delivery vehicles, and current trials are reportedly being held with the French postal service and DHL.

Talk of eventual 3D printing does make this feel very distant, and a complete tyre and rim, combined assembly carries a practicality and cost consideration that could be seen as countering the benefits somewhat. It is also not Michelin’s first rodeo into this style of concept technology, with the ‘Tweel’ offering a very similar design and theory when it was launched some years ago, but that never made it mainstream, instead only moving into the realm of speciality vehicles of low speed and utility-based as opposed to leisure or performance.

So in answer to the question as to whether the Michelin Uptis could cause a problem for companies like Giuliano Automotive, the answer from me is a firm ‘no’. Indeed, when Michelin introduced the PAX assembly, which only really made its way to some very prestigious marques such as Maybach and Rolls Royce, we worked with them to produce a machine to handle it.

More importantly, however, this brings me back to my point about the ‘safeguard’ attached to being in the tyre industry, even when the going gets tough or we appear to be under threat from new technological developments. The bottom line is that, when we entered recession, the motor industry was hit hard; vehicle sales plummeted, people couldn’t get finance, and the whole economy slowed around the new car sales element of the automotive industry. But… if someone isn’t buying a new car, it means they’re keeping their old one on the road. Consequently, these vehicles need to be maintained that bit longer, which will generally include another set of tyres along with additional servicing etc. In fact, whilst the luxury end of the market may have suffered, both on tyres themselves and the equipment people like us supply to handle them, the numbers of units remained quite static. I found myself counting my blessings that I was in a sector of the automotive industry that felt reasonably ‘recession proof’.

Recently, Automobil Lamborghini SpA filed a patent for a new style of rim with removable panels that automatically adjust in order to balance the competing aspects of brake cooling and aerodynamics. The consequences of this from a balancing perspective (as in ‘wheel balancing’) are not insignificant, and so projects like this mean that companies like us are crucial to ensuring the aftermarket can cope with these technological advancements, whether functional or purely cosmetic.

As an ‘Aftersales Selected Partner’ to Lamborghini, we are in a prime position to be able to co-operate in situations like this, as our X-Boss Automated Tyre Changer demonstrates, being able to handle ‘exotic’ rims and difficult tyres in complete safety to both operator and wheel assembly.

In summary, the tyre industry continues to have a bright future, at least from the tiny viewpoint we are afforded in the small but important sector of tyre fitting and wheel balancing equipment!

ABOVE: The Giuliano X-Boss, approved by Lamborghini through our Aftersales Selected Partner status, and a prime example of how we constantly adapt to keep pace with the rims and tyres the industry is faced with.

ABOVE:the Uptis from Michelin.