Around 300 exhibiting companies and brands from 35 countries are expected to participate in THE TIRE COLOGNE 2022, of which around 66 percent come from abroad. The largest international contingents are from Italy, India, China, Turkey and the Netherlands.
The tyre manufacturers, wholesalers and rim manufacturers will present themselves in Halls 6 and 7, as well as in sections of Hall 8. The leading tyre providers, such as CONTINENTAL REIFEN DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, PIRELLI DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, HANKOOK REIFEN DEUTSCHLAND GMBH, MICHELIN REIFENWERKE AG & CO. KGAA and FALKEN TYRE EUROPE GMBH, among others, will present their range of services here. Well-known companies in the wheel segment are SUPERIOR INDUSTRIES LEICHTMETALLRAD, BORBET VERTRIEBS GMBH or BBS AUTOMOTIVE GMBH, among others. Represented in Cologne from the tyre and wheel trade are, for example, INTERPNEU HANDELSGESELLSCHAFT MBH, INTER-SPRINT BANDEN B.V., VAN DEN BAN AUTOBANDEN B.V. or DELDO AUTOBANDEN NV. The themes of automotive services and workshop needs will be concentrated in Hall 8. Here you will find companies like SCHRADER TPMS SOLUTIONS, HAMATON GMBH, HUF BAOLONG ELECTRONICS, ATEQ TPMS TOOL or WEGMANN AUTOMOTIVE GMBH in May. The retreading and old tyre recycling segments will be presented in Hall 7. The suppliers participating here include CARL ZEISS NEROFORCE GMBH, MATTEUZZI S.R.L., TRM SRL and VMI HOLLAND BV.
Sustainability – the central theme of THE TIRE COLOGNE 2022
Sustainability will be the central theme of THE TIRE COLOGNE. This will of course first of all be reflected in the stands of the participating companies, but also in the event programme in a variety of ways. Thus, the Global Retreading Conference (GRC) of the European retreading association BIPAVER, for example, will dedicate itself in a panel discussion to the significance of and the need to promote retreading as a pillar of the circular economy in the tyre segment, as well as to the planned introduction of a tyre label for heavily retreaded truck and bus tyres. The event will take place on 24 May 2022 from 1:00 – 6:00 p.m., the first day of the trade fair, in the Congress Centre North.
The TIRE Recycling Forum on 25 May 2022 on the TIRE Stage in Hall 6, organised by the trade journal Tyre & Rubber Recycling in cooperation with Koelnmesse, will be dedicated to the theme of sustainability in two sessions. Session 1 from 12:00 to 1:20 p.m. is entitled “The Role of Recycling in Tyre Manufacturing Sustainability” and deals with the increasing importance of sustainability for the new tyre manufacturers and the key role that recycling plays in this respect. Session 2 from 1:40 to 3:00 p.m. is entitled “Developing Technologies and Future Prospects in Tyre Recycling”. Well-known managers will discuss the importance of the latest developments in tyre recycling technology for the entyre market landscape.
In the special event entitled “Boulevard of Sustainability” on the central trade fair boulevard, the spotlight is aimed at the sustainable lifecycle of the tyre. The special event is supported by, among others, the companies Pirelli, Kraiburg and Kurz Karkassenhandel, as well as by the Chemnitz University of Technology.
In Hall 7, the action area of the ZARE (certified old tyre disposal companies) for old tyre disposal fits perfectly into the theme complex of sustainability. Under the title “Old Tire Disposal – how does that actually work?”, the ZARE action area demonstrates live how correct, sustainable old tyre disposal must be carried out. The dates: 24.05.2022, 11:00 – 11:20 a.m.; 24.05.2022, 3:00 – 3:20 p.m.; 25.05.2022, 11:00 – 11:20 a.m. and 25.05.2022, 3:00 – 3:20 p.m..
However, themes like digitalisation or fleet management will also play an important role this year. The “TIRE Stage” in Hall 6 is the stage on which many of the themes of relevance for the industry play: in addition to the already named Recycling Forum on the central trade fair theme of “sustainability”, the themes of “fleet management” or “digitalisation”, for example, will be treated and discussed here in sessions in cooperation with partners. The entire programme of TIRE Stage will be streamed live and will also be available afterwards as video on demand at the website of THE TIRE COLOGNE.
The TIRE FLEET Forum with lectures and discussion panels will take place on the TIRE STAGE on the afternoon of the first day of the fair from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. As in 2018, the ETM Verlag will host a special fleet forum with interesting lectures and a panel discussion for fleet managers and workshop operators in 2022.
The “digitalisation” of the tyre trade will provide the focus of a panel discussion on the second day. How far has the trade already progressed and where is there still room for improvement? Andreas Burk (Reifen1+ Interpneu Handelsgesellschaft mbH), Daniel Epping (Goodyear Retail Systems GmbH), Gerd Heinemann (BBE Automotive GmbH) and host Dietmar Winkler, editor-in-chief of the industry magazine asp – Auto Service Praxis will discuss these and other questions on the TIRE Stage. The panel discussion will take place on 25 May 2022 from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m.
Action areas
Initiated and organised by the German Tyre Retail and Vulcanisation Trade Association (BRV) in cooperation with partners, two mounting areas for the practical demonstration of the (dis)assembly of large tyres or UHP/run-flat tyres are on the programme.
In the car segment, attention will mainly be paid to the wdk-certified mounting of UHP and run-flat tyres.
Tyres with a low aspect ratio and large wheel diameters are a growing segment both for original equipment and the replacement business. This is also driven by the increasing number of SUV, hybrid and pure e-vehicles. Adapted outfitting with machinery and a corresponding qualification of the fitters is indispensable for professional and safe tyre servicing in the UHP/run-flat tyres segment. The BRV and wdk (German Rubber Manufacturers Association) will show how quickly drastic damage can occur with an inappropriate work method or working conditions, in some cases first resulting in the failure of the tyres much later, in the mounting demonstrations on two wdk-certified machine types on the basis of a selection of UHP/run-flat tyres and the related wheels.
In the utility vehicles segment, the mounting of large tyres from the agriculture and industry segments will be shown in cooperation with the Bohnenkamp AG from Osnabrück in an action area. The background here is that more tyre dealers are attempting to enter into tyre segments like agriculture/forestry or excavation/industry tyres in order to be able to position themselves more broadly in a competitive field. However, these niches require special know-how in the mounting and service sector in order to be able to offer professional marketing, combined with the necessary services.
THE TIRE COLOGNE is aimed at tyre manufacturers, specialist tyre dealers, vehicle service providers, workshop outfitters, recycling specialists, retreaders and all businesses associated with the tyre and vehicle industry. The international industry trade fair is organised by Koelnmesse and the German Tyre Retail and Vulcanisation Trade Association (BRV) as industry sponsor.