This year’s Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence, presented at Deutsche Messe during Tire Technology Expo 2025 this week, celebrated the very best innovations and achievements across the tire industry during the last 12 months.
Comprising 12 categories, the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence are a celebration of recent advances in tire technology and progress toward a greener and more sustainable industry, and a chance to acknowledge the personal achievements of some remarkable individuals.
The awards are coordinated by Tire Technology International magazine and officiated by a panel of international journalists and industry experts.
To recognize the increasingly prominent role of sustainability in tire manufacturing, the awards feature three categories focused on environmental development. The first celebrates advances in tire design and was won by Goodyear for its ElectricDrive Sustainable-Material (EDS) tire, which represents a significant milestone in Goodyear’s journey toward a more sustainable future.
“We are thrilled to receive this award,” said Nathaniel Madarang, Goodyear’s Asia-Pacific president. “Goodyear’s ElectricDrive Sustainable-Material (EDS) tire provides EV drivers with an excellent option of high-performing tires with ISCC-certified sustainable materials exceeding 70%. We are committed to introducing the industry’s first 100% sustainable material tire by 2030.”
The award for Environmental Achievement of the Year in manufacturing was presented to Continental for the company’s achievements at its Lousado plant in Portugal. In 2024, Continental announced that it can now produce tires CO2-neutrally at the plant – an accomplishment that plays a key part in the tire maker’s efforts to achieve completely CO2-neutral production.
In the category for Environmental Achievement – Industry Contribution, the jury recognized the achievements of Nokian Tyres. In 2024, the tire maker inaugurated the world’s first full-scale tire factory with zero CO2 emissions. The new facility, in Oradea, Romania, operates without the need for any fossil energy.
“Our Oradea factory is the world’s first full-scale zero-CO2 emission tire factory and, as such, a benchmark for the entire industry,” said Adrian Kaczmarczyk, senior vice president of operations. “We are honored to receive this award at the same time as the factory is getting ready for tire deliveries.”
The next category was Materials Innovation of the Year, which was presented to Bekaert for Mega Tensile – a next-generation reinforcement solution that offers a range of sustainability benefits.
“We are truly honored to be recognized for Materials Innovation of the Year!” said Jim Dobson, SVP for technology and quality at Bekaert Rubber Reinforcement. “Mega Tensile is more than just a breakthrough in strength – it enables a step change in efficiency and sustainability. This award is a testament to our passion for driving innovation forward!”
The focus on innovation continued with the next category – the R&D Breakthrough of the Year award. The winner was Sumitomo Rubber Industries for its Active Tread technology, which switches the mechanical properties of the tread compound based on changes in road conditions.
“We are deeply honored to receive the R&D Breakthrough of the Year award,” said Takahiro Mabuchi, general manager and head of the material planning department at SRI’s Material R&D HQ. “With Active Tread, we have successfully launched the next generation of all-season tires in Japan, which can safely drive on either wet or icy roads.”
Focus turned to the tire industry’s leading suppliers and developers next, with VMI picking up the award for Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year. Jurors were impressed by the company’s integrated quality monitoring for the MAXX and MILEXX platforms – a full drum monitoring system for the carcass package.
“I chose VMI’s quality monitoring systems as the winner in this category because the technology is a step on the way to a fully flexible manufacturing cell,” said juror David Shaw, chief executive of Tire Industry Research.
The next category was Industry Supplier of the Year, traditionally a closely contested award. As in previous years, only a few points separated the nominated companies, with each having proved its value to the tire industry. The 2025 winner was confirmed as ARP Technologies, with jurors pointing to its many innovations in the tire curing sector, including servomotor-driven manipulators, new insulation technologies, automated AGV-based mold exchange and automatic bladder exchange technology.
“This award reflects our relentless focus on curing technology and customer value,” said Meyer Yao, vice president of ARP Technologies. “It reinforces our commitment to excellence in innovation, energy savings, machine reliability and worldwide services.”
Next came the Tire Concept of the Year, a category that celebrates the most innovative and forward-thinking conceptual designs from the last 12 months. Another high-quality field led to a closely scored result, with Bridgestone emerging as the winner for its Lunar concept tire, an impressive combination of tire technologies designed for use in the most inhospitable of conditions.
The Tire of the Year award has become one of the most anticipated categories in recent years. A shortlisted field of five outstanding designs led to another closely fought result, with Michelin edging out the competition with its Primacy 5.
“This new major tire line, sold worldwide, [demonstrates an] increase in lifespan of 18%, an improvement in energy efficiency of 5%, while maintaining an excellent level of safety – new and worn – in order to decrease the environmental impact of this tire by 6%,” said Cyrille Roget, Michelin’s director of scientific and innovation communications. “It shows the commitment of Michelin to decreasing the footprint of our products in all categories.”
The last main award of the night was for the Tire Manufacturer of the Year. This year, after the jury compared the overall contributions of seven tire makers across the last 12 months, Continental came out on top – the fourth time the Hannover-based tire maker has won this category.
“We are proud to win two of these prestigious awards,” said Edwin Goudswaard, head of R&D at Continental Tires, who collected the Tire Manufacturer of the Year award in Hannover. “In such a competitive market, this achievement demonstrates our strong innovation capacity and our ability to shape the industry toward a sustainable future.”
“This was one of the closest results we’ve had in this category for some years,” said Matt Ross, chairman of the awards and editor-in-chief of Tire Technology International. “Continental triumphed in 2025 because the jury panel acknowledged the scale and breadth of the company’s achievements over the last year, including the work at Lousado, further rollout of PET in its tires, development of the Cokoon technology with Kordsa, expansions and sustainability certifications across its manufacturing network, and a number of other accomplishments. In an impressive field, they are certainly a worthy winner this year.”
The Young Scientist Prize for 2025 was given to Katerina Filzer, a PhD student at Twente University in the Netherlands, for her presentation titled ‘An innovative method to incorporate a devulcanization aid into rubber’. The specialist jury panel – which is separate from the central categories – selected Filzer’s work not only for its complex and sophisticated nature but also for her clear, well-presented delivery.
In addition to recognizing the impressive accomplishments of manufacturers and suppliers, the awards are an opportunity to highlight the achievements of remarkable individuals within the industry. In 2025, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Prof. Anke Blume, head of elastomer technology and engineering at the University of Twente. Not only did her peers and colleagues wish to celebrate her technical expertise and academic achievements, but those who know and work with Blume also praised her contributions to the wider tire industry.
Look out for more on the winners in the June issue of Tire Technology International.
For more information about the award winners, visit https://www.tiretechnology-expo.com/en/awards.php.
