Last May, during the 5th edition of the Luxembourg Green Business Summit, Goodyear was awarded the Green Product Award for its FUELMAX tire. We meet with Henk van Tuyl, Director Tire Technology Commercial Tires EMEA to discussion innovation and strategy.
Your product has been rewarded following the vote of 59 CEOs in Luxembourg, what are the key factors for success in your project?
FUELMAX is Goodyear’s fuel efficient truck tire line, offering the lowest rolling resistance of any Goodyear truck tire in combination with a well-balanced tire performance. The steer tire called Fuelmax S generates up to a 10% reduction in rolling resistance and thus saves money on fuel and lowers CO2 emissions. In addition, FUELMAX tires deliver up to 15% more kilometres or mileage. The success factor in reducing tire rolling resistance is Goodyear’s patented IntelliMax Groove Technology which optimizes rolling resistance thanks to ‘hidden’ grooves molded into the tire tread pattern.
In what extent do your green business objectives carry your business strategy?
The European road transport sector is among the larger emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2) gases. One of Goodyear’s objectives is to help reduce tire fuel consumption and thus significantly reduce the transport sector’s greenhouse gas emissions. The innovative ‘IntelliMax‘ technology is a step towards enhanced tire fuel efficiency, lower fleet fuel costs and reduced environmental impacts.
What are the main innovations of your product?
The IntelliMax Groove Technology is the key technical innovation in Goodyear’s FUELMAX truck tire range. A unique manufacturing technique molds a ‘hidden’ groove into the tire tread pattern. During the first part of the tire life, the truck tread pattern, comprising of three ribs is exposed optimizing tire performance and rolling resistance. As tire wear progresses towards 50% of the original tread depth, additional “hidden” Intellimax grooves are exposed creating a six rib tread pattern and at an approximate 75% wear, four tread ribs remain, ensuring good wet grip performance throughout the remainder of the tire’s life. Using advanced predictive technology, Goodyear also reduced the frictional energy generated by the tread pattern, so that tire mileage is optimized for the tread depth or non-skid remaining. In addition, wet grip is enhanced thanks to the numerous blade edges and optimized blade angles.
What are the next steps for the future of your product?
The engineers in the Goodyear Technical Center in Luxembourg (GIC*L) continuously enhance truck tire technology and are working on the next generation of FUELMAX truck tires that will meet the ever more demanding customer and market requirements.
Do you think that competitiveness and sustainable development can be complementary?
Goodyear, like other large enterprises, is committed to sustainable growth and supports the integration of social and environmental benchmarks for its stakeholders in its business operations. New innovative technologies not only support sustainable development of our tires, but at the same time can deliver a competitive advantage as demonstrated by our FUELMAX truck tires.
What do you think of the Green Business in Luxembourg?
The Luxembourg Cluster Initiative, launched in 2002 by the Luxembourg Government, is a good example of supporting sustainable development in the Luxembourg economy. Renewable energy and green building projects figure amongst the government priorities in this emerging sector. The diversity of the awards distributed during the Green Business Summit underline the efforts of the private and public sectors in Clean and Green Technologies.
