At this year’s Busworld Turkey, held between 29-31 May at the Istanbul Expo Center, I met with Şikar and Ünlü to discuss the past, present, and future of Maxion Wheels’ business activities in the country. While much of our conversation revolved naturally around the bus and coach industry, I learned a lot about wheel production for all segments, including light vehicles and trucks. Moreover, we talked in depth about what has made Turkey such an attractive location for industry, and why it will continue to be a good place to do business despite the ongoing currency crisis.

Available to last-mile delivery fleets in the USA and Europe, this package includes premium tyres, its Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS), connectivity services and maintenance & servicing in one subscription-based package.  

The e-SMaRT AU56 City product is now in series production. The first tyres to roll off the production line will be 275/70 R22.5 tyres, designed for the urban electric bus market.

This expansion will boost its annual capacity of light truck and passenger tyres to 18 million annually by 2027. This will help the company service growing demand in the Asia Pacific market.

Michelin has added the Smart Predictive Tyre feature to the MICHELIN Connected Fleet suite of digital services in the UK. The system monitors tyre pressure (TPMS), wear and degradation using smart sensors to provide real-time alerts that help fleet operators improve safety and efficiency, specifically regarding scheduled maintenance.

T&BB spoke to Ian Jackson, the digital and fleet solutions manager for Conti UK. Jackson confirmed that by the end of the year, the smart sensors embedded in the new CV tyre range will have a new feature, accurate automated tread depth monitoring.

The new sustainable-material demonstration truck tyre used 63% sustainable material with 15 sustainable ingredients across 20 tyre components. Furthermore, it was manufactured with four different carbon blacks sourced from plant-based oils rather than crude oil.

Available in 315/70 R22.5 in the UK, four additional sizes will be added by the end of the year and one further size in 2025. Bridgestone will add the Ecopia Enliten trailer tyre in Q4 2024. These tyres are produced in Stargard, Poland and Bilbao, Spain.

Hundreds of journalists packed the plush conference room on the first floor of the brand-spanking-new building for the big reveal. Interestingly, the themes continually reiterated by the various Conti staff included sustainability, cost pressure, digitalisation driving efficiency as well as compliance & safety.

Continental will be driving the message of “Your Trusted Fleet Parter” which involves aftermarket fleet management services like Conti 360 Solutions and ContiConnect. Continental’s fleet experts and engineers will be on hand to help identify cost-saving opportunities for fleet customers of all sizes by driving efficiency and ultimately TCO.

The company appointed Ryan Waldron as the President of the company's Americas business unit replacing Steven R. McClellan who retired on April 1, 2024. Waldron reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Stewart.

The company has made the European launch of its new GDL617 Ecoroad truck tyre, launched in size 315/70R22.5. Based on the Giti GDL617, the company announced that the Ecoroad truck tyre has superior rolling resistance, retreadability, improved fuel economy and higher mileage capabilities based on a new tread compound and a tweaked tread pattern.