Home » Business » Autotalk Special
‘Green’ tires have promising future as China upgrades automobile tech
Print Edition
WHILE carmakers are straining improve traditional powertrains and develop alternative energy drives to meet emission-reduction and fuel-saving targets, there is a lower-hanging fruit that they might have missed.
It is “green” tires, ranked in classes Class C, B and A by European Union tire-labeling regulations. Made from special synthetic rubber, they can bring down rolling resistance by 20-30 percent, thus cutting fuel consumption levels by up to 7 percent without requiring significant research and development.
Green tires still have a low penetration rate in China, where tire labeling is yet to become mandatory. However, Lanxess, a producer of specialty chemicals, including high-performance rubber, believes that the tires are the future and the company stands to benefit from the trend.
“The age of tire design ended in 2010,” said Markus Bruckner, green tire project manager of Lanxess. “Now it’s a matter of optimizing tire performance, and it all comes down to materials.”
In its recent joint study with the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, Lanxess said it expects green tires to account for more than 20 percent of China’s tire market this year, 10 times the market share in 2010. By the end of this decade, the tires are expected to dominate 60 percent of the market.
The China Rubber Industry Association is releasing. Green Tire Technology Specifications as guidance for the industry.
“Green tires are expected to penetrate first into the semi-steel tire market and then into the all-steel tire market, first into the original equipment market and then into the replacement market,” said Wang Weinan, director of the Intelligence Institute at the China Automotive Technology and Research Center. “It will occur on a voluntary basis until the use of green tires in China becomes mandatory.”
China is the world’s largest tire manufacturer and consumer. Overseas regulations will require the export market to meet stricter standards and upgrade products, the study says. But above all, it is growing consumer awareness and acceptance that will lead the whole industry to a tipping point.
In Europe, the tire-labeling system was adopted in 2012, followed by promotions like mobile applications from Lanxess to help buyers calculate fuel savings. Over the past two years, green tire use grew to a 30 percent from 20 percent market share, a trend welcomed by environmentally conscious consumers as well as logistics companies looking for long-term budget controls.
Price-sensitive markets like Spain and Italy are still a hard nut to crack, and China is probably no different.
Bruckner said he believes the best pitch is let figures speak for themselves, showing how extra cost can be amortized through fuel savings over time. For consumers, the break-even point of a start-stop function is at 60,000 kilometers, while that of green tires is just 15,000 kilometers.
Apparently, carmakers have more reasons to do the math. To meet China’s fuel consumption targets of 6.9 liters per 100 kilometers by 2015 and 5 liters/km by 2020, they have to overcome rolling resistance, which is related to 20-30 percent of fuel consumption on average.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
