The largest center for the production of automobile tires is located. Technological process of car tire production

The tire industry is one of the most important industries in the chemical complex. At the end of 2018, the growth in passenger tire production was 12%, and truck tire production was 10%. If we count in absolute numbers, then the production volume for last year was at the level of 60.1 million units. Of these, the passenger segment accounted for 49.7 million units. In general, the industry has been growing for several years now. Domestic brands occupy about 40% of our market. The remaining factories in Russia produce tires under foreign brands, including Nokian, Michelin, Pirelli, Bridgstone, Continental and Yokohama. In addition, in 2018 the country imported
35.5 million tires, mostly for passenger cars. Today I want to tell you about the largest players in the domestic tire market.

TOP 9 largest tire factories in Russia, annual capacity million units:

1st place - Nokian Tires - 17 million units.

Nokian Tires is the world's northernmost tire manufacturer. The company is originally from Finland. The company's headquarters is located in Nokia, Finland. Part of the concern is the largest network of tire centers Vianor. In Russia, the company produces tires at its plant in Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad region, which was launched in 2005.

2nd place - PJSC Nizhnekamskshina - 9.7 million units.

PJSC Nizhnekamskshina (part of PJSC Tatneft) is the largest domestic enterprise in the tire industry. The first inner tube at the plant was produced in April 1973, and already in October 1974 the plant produced its millionth tire. The company's product range includes more than 250 items of passenger and light truck tires from the KAMA and Viatti tire brands.

3rd place - Kirov Tire Plant JSC - 6 million units

The Kirov Tire Plant dates back to November 1943. It was this enterprise that was the first in the country to master the production of: truck tires 240-508R radial design (in 1965); tires that allow operation in the absence of tire pressure - 13.00-18 model KI-80N (in 1982); production of radial tires with adjustable pressure 12.00R20 model KI-113 (in 1990). Since December 14, 2011, it has belonged to the Italian holding Pirelli.

4th place - Continental Kaluga LLC - 4 million units.

The Continental concern, founded in Hannover (Germany) in 1871, is one of the leading suppliers of automotive components. The start of serial production at their plant in Kaluga took place in October 2013. Continental Kaluga LLC produces winter and summer tires for passenger cars and light trucks of three company brands: Continental, Gislaved and Matador. In 2015, the Kaluga plant began exporting its tires to 15 countries in Europe, Scandinavia, the former Soviet Union and Asia.

5th place - PJSC "Yaroslavl Tire Plant" - 3 million units

PJSC "Yaroslavl Tire Plant" is the largest plant in the central region of Russia for the production of tire products. The plant was founded in 1932 and until the early 40s was the main enterprise in the tire industry of the USSR. Now it is part of the holding JSC Cordiant

6th place - Voronezh Tire Plant - 2.2 million units

Since February 29, 2012, VShZ has been part of a joint venture between the international company Pirelli and the Rostec State Corporation. Currently, VShZ is mastering and mass-producing premium segment passenger tires with a seat diameter from 16" to 21", which are already exported to Sweden, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Ukraine.

7th place - Michelin - Russian Tire Production Company LLC - 2 million units.

Michelin is a French company, a tire manufacturer, one of the leaders in its industry. Full name - Compagnie Générale des Établissements Michelin. Headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand. Founded in 1889. Official activities in Russia began in 1907 and were discontinued after the 1917 revolution. The resumption of activities in the country occurred only in 1992. Since July 2004, Michelin has operated a tire production plant in the village of Davydovo, Orekhovo-Zuevsky district, Moscow region. Car tires under the brands Michelin and BF Goodrich are produced there.

8th place - LLC "YOKOHAMA R.P.Z." - 1.6 million pcs.

YOKOHAMA R.P.Z. Company was founded in 2008 in the Gryazinsky district of the Lipetsk region and is the first company producing YOKOHAMA brand tires in Russia. And the parent company Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd was founded in 1917. The headquarters is located in Tokyo.

Many Internet users are interested in which tire manufacturers exist in Russia today and what products they produce. That’s why we decided to make an extended review, giving an idea of ​​the situation with the production of tires in the vastness of the country.

KShZ Kirov

With the Kirov Tire Plant, everything is not so simple. This is the oldest enterprise, which began its activities during the Second World War, and today is essentially not Russian.

Since December 2011, KShZ has been owned by the Italian Pirelli, having previously changed several owners. At that time of sale, the plant was considered the third largest in terms of production volume in our country.

Initially, the company specialized in the production of tires for special equipment, truck and bus tires, as well as passenger and light truck tires, aimed at domestic cars:

• Volga,
• Gazelle and Sable,
• Niva.

Since the transfer to the ownership of the Italian holding, KShZ has launched the production of more than 40 budget and premium models under the Pirelli brand.

The studded Winter Carving Edge model is designed specifically for the domestic Russian market, since in almost all countries except a few northern ones, studs are prohibited. So the winter tires we sell under the Pirelli brand are Russian-made.

The main task of the new management was to improve the quality of products, and then expand the range. Today, KShZ products have a large model range, many standard sizes, and therefore the sales market has expanded greatly.

A quarter of the assortment ends up on the markets of Russia and Italy, and the rest is exported to Scandinavian countries, the CIS and Canada.

ASK Barnaul

When discussing what tires are produced in Russia, one cannot ignore the Barnaul plant. The company was founded in 1960; its activities began with asbestos production and tire repair shops.

In 1965, the BSZ was declared an all-Union Komsomol construction site, where tire production workshops were erected.

Construction continued for several years, and the plant reached its design capacity by 1973. The years of perestroika turned out to be difficult for him, but in 2001 he helped him get out of a deep crisis. the Neftehimprom group, which, on the basis of the BSZ, created the Altai Tire Plant in the form in which it is known today.

Several years ago, its production was modernized, and today AShK produces about 60 models and sizes of tires for agricultural and military equipment, cars (trucks, commercial, off-road), as well as more than three dozen types of tires for aircraft.

They are produced under the NORTEC brand. The main foreign consumers are countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the CIS.

Cordiant

Continuing the story about what tires are produced in Russia, it is impossible to ignore the Cordiant joint-stock company, which currently unites several well-known enterprises.

1. Omsk tire plant. It produces tires for heavy and light trucks, buses, road equipment and tractors.
2. A subsidiary of OSHZ, Cordiant-Vostok, which produces summer and best Russian studded tires for passenger vehicles under the Cordiant brand.
3. Volzhsky tire plant "Voltyre-Prom". Produces only industrial and agricultural tires.
4. Yaroslavl plant. It produces passenger radial tires, as well as truck tires using the all-metal cord (all-metal cord) technology.

Yokohama R.P.Z.

The Japanese brand Yokohama needs no introduction; it is known all over the world and has more than 60 subsidiaries in different countries, including Russia. This branch is officially called Yokohama Rus LLC.

Since 2005, he has organized wholesale sales in the country, provided staff training and technical support, and in 2012, he launched the production of one winter studded model Ice GUARD iG35, and two summer ones - C-drive2 and the new BluEarth AE-01.

The size range covers almost the entire segment of passenger cars. So far they are sold exclusively on the domestic market, but in the near future some of the products are planned to be sold on the European car tire markets.

Voronezh Tire Plant

VShZ is the second tire plant purchased in 2012 by the Pirelli holding. That is, the Italians did not build production in Russia from scratch, as the Finns and Japanese did, but acquired ready-made enterprises that found themselves in a difficult situation.

The plant was modernized and, having poured more than 100 million euros into it and installed new equipment, they began to increase production.

Not only the mechanized part of the enterprise came from abroad, but also the technologies for compounding rubber and mixing ingredients. In addition to models under the Pirelli brand, the plant continues to produce its previous products - tires for cars, trucks, and agricultural machinery.

Uralshina

The Ural Tire Plant, located in Yekaterinburg, was founded back in 1943. During the war, he provided tires for armored vehicles.

In the post-war years, modernization was carried out, upon completion of which motorcycle and truck tires began to be produced in 1970. At the same time, the plant has always remained the main supplier of tires for the defense industry and industry.

As the demand for bias-ply truck tires decreased, special tires manufactured using Superelastic technology were introduced into production.

They are used to equip various types of diesel and electric forklifts produced in Russia and replace failed wheels on many types of imported lifting equipment.

In the late 90s, Uralshina launched the production of radial tires for passenger cars, but they did not take root on the market and today you can no longer see them anywhere.

NShZ Nizhnekamsk

The Nizhnekamskshina production association produces the best domestic tires. This is the largest enterprise in Russia, which produced its millionth tire in the first year of operation, in the early 70s. Today it is the leader of our tire industry, having already produced more than 400 million tires.

And here are the brands of tires produced at NShZ today. In addition to passenger cars, trucks and agricultural models under the Kama brand, new ones are also produced under the name Viatti - the result of cooperation with the German concern Continental AG, which owns a stake in Nizhnekamskshina.

This is the first plant in the country whose products began to be used as first-generation tires by European manufacturers Volkswagen, Ford, Fiat, Skoda.

Nokian Tire LLC

At the time of the decision to create production in Russia in 2004, the Finnish company Nokian Tires had crossed a century of age and had an unshakable reputation throughout the world.

No one knew how the experiment would end, especially since the new production site was not based on a ready-made operating enterprise, but everything had to be built from scratch.

We chose for this the city of Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad Region, which is geographically located not far from Finland.

The workshop for manufacturing components and mixing rubber was the first to operate, because without them it is impossible to assemble tires. The main raw material is natural rubber, supplied to the plant from Southeast Asian countries.

Its presence in winter tires is mandatory, otherwise the rubber will not be soft in the cold. Synthetic rubber is mainly used in the production of summer tires.

At the beginning of the plant's activities, rubber compounds were brought from Finland and at the same time they produced 4 million tires per year. Now all rubber compounding technologies are in place, and the turnover is already more than 15 million tires per year.

This figure could have been higher if the demand for tires of this brand had not declined due to steadily rising prices amid the economic downturn in the country. But since in all tests tires under the Nokian brand were and remain the best, they are still bought - and not only in Russia.

Products manufactured in Vsevolozhsk are exported to more than forty countries around the world. Sold for foreign currency, it brings a stable income to the plant regardless of the economic situation in the country.

Continental Kaluga

Let's talk a little about the plans of another European investor regarding tire production in Russia. We are talking about the Continental AG concern, which currently already has such an enterprise in Kaluga.

Since 2013, rubber components have been manufactured here and tires under the Continental brand have been produced, so far at a modest volume of 4 million units per year.

In March 2018, additional lines were launched for the production of tires in the budget price range under the Gislaved and Matador brands owned by the concern.

The most popular summer model, Continental ContiPremiumContact 5, is produced in Kaluga, but almost 40% of all production is winter tires.

Conclusion

Russia is a huge sales market and a tasty morsel for all global tire manufacturers. Therefore, foreign investors are striving to either buy a ready-made plant or build their own.

So the Japanese Bridgestone Corporation is building its plant in Ulyanovsk, expecting to produce mainly winter models there. So the day is not far when almost any tire with a famous brand will be able to read “made in Russia”.

The tire industry is one of the most important branches of the chemical complex. It is closely related to the production of synthetic rubber. Tire production is the final link in the technological chain: oil and gas production - gasoline production - synthetic rubber production - tire production. The location of tire factories is primarily dependent on the raw material factor; the second most important factor is the consumer factor. That is why so many tire factories are located near oil refining centers: Nizhnekamsk, Omsk, Yaroslavl, Volgograd, Moscow.

Almost 160 years have passed since the appearance of the pneumatic tire: in June 1846, Scotsman Robert William Thomson received a patent for its invention. The first tires were placed on wheels with wooden spokes. The tire tube was made of several layers of canvas, impregnated and covered on both sides with natural rubber. The outer covering consisted of pieces of leather connected by rivets. The entire tire was bolted to the rim. The Frenchmen Andre and Edouard Michelin (1895) were the first to use pneumatic tires on cars.

Modern car tires vary in different ways.

Based on the type of tread pattern, tires are divided into road (summer), all-season (universal), winter (including studded), all-terrain, sports (high-speed, racing), and quarry.

Depending on the sealing method, tires can be tubed or tubeless. Tubeless tires are safer and easier to install.

Based on the location of the cord threads (a kind of reinforcing reinforcement) in the carcass, tires are divided into diagonal and radial. Bias tires are relatively cheap and have a stronger sidewall. Tires intended for use on roads with poor surfaces are made diagonally. In radial tires, the threads are directed across the center line of the wheel, along the radius. Radial tires are characterized by increased mileage, reduced heat generation, and their use can reduce fuel consumption.

The world's largest tire manufacturers are Michelin (France), Goodyear, Firestone and Goodrich (USA), Bridgestone, Sumitomo and Yokohama (Japan), Dunlop (UK), " Continental and Metzeler (Germany), Pirelli (Italy).

According to Rosstat, in 2004 the total production of tires in Russia amounted to 39.3 million units. This is the highest level of production since 1990. One of the main directions of structural restructuring of the automotive industry in recent years has been the development of the production of light-duty vehicles with a carrying capacity of 0.3 to 1.5 tons (Gazelle and similar models), which led to the reorientation of tire factories for the production of light truck tires.

The Russian tire industry in 2002 included 12 enterprises. Tire production is available in all economic regions of the country, except for the North, North Caucasus and Far East.

The largest enterprise in the industry - Nizhnekamskshina (trademark "Kama") was created in 1968.
In recent years, the enterprise has been commissioning new production facilities, this is largely facilitated by the support of the owner, the Tatneft company. The company is the main supplier to KamAZ and also supplies tires to AvtoVAZ.

The Yaroslavl Tire Plant is the first in Russia and, perhaps, the most famous enterprise in the industry (since 1932). Many people know it from the name of the Yaroslavl football team “Shinnik”. The plant ranks first in the country in the production of tires for agricultural machinery. Consumers of the products are UAZ, Lipetsk and Minsk tractor plants, as well as MAZ, GAZ, ZIL, and aircraft factories.

The Omsk Tire Plant was put into operation in 1942. Initially, it was focused on the production of truck tires, but in recent years the range of products has changed towards the production of tires for passenger cars. In 1995, the joint Russian-Slovak enterprise Matador-Omskshina was created at the Omsk enterprise. It specializes in the production of passenger radial tires using Slovak technology.

The Kirov Tire Plant was opened in 1943 to meet the needs of the front. Currently, the company cooperates with GAZ, UAZ, ZIL, IzhAvto, Arzamas Machine-Building Plant, and Pavlovsky Bus. In February 2002, a contract was signed between the owner of the plant, the Amtel company, and the Finnish company Nokian Renkaat to begin joint production of tires in Russia.

The Volgograd Tire Plant (JSC Voltyre) was founded in 1964. This enterprise is a recognized leader in the production of tires for agricultural machinery. Agricultural tires of the Voltyre brand are used in all neighboring countries and in many other countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

The Voronezh Tire Plant was put into operation in 1950. For the first time in the country, the plant mastered the production of two-color bicycle tires and large tires for road construction vehicles.

The Moscow Tire Plant went into operation in November 1945. About 60% of its products are sold in Moscow and the Moscow region. The very location of the plant in the Dubrovka area, close to the capital’s largest automobile production facilities, determines the close nature of technological ties. Tires from the Moscow plant (trademark "Taganka") are supplied to the ZIL, GAZ, VAZ, IzhAvto, and SeAZ automobile plants.

The founding date of the Ural Tire Plant is considered to be 1943, when the equipment of the Moscow Experimental Tire Plant evacuated to Sverdlovsk was launched. The company produces bias-ply tires for cars and trucks, motorcycles and scooters, electric forklifts and electric trolleys. The company supplies its products to the Urals, Siberia, and Central Russia.
In 2001, a new line of radial truck tires was launched, and the production of radial passenger tires began.

Barnaul and Krasnoyarsk tire factories, in addition to automobile tires, produce a wide range of tires for aviation. In 1993, Supershina OJSC was created in Krasnoyarsk to produce large tires for BelAZ vehicles (due to the proximity of the coal mining and mining regions of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Kemerovo and Irkutsk regions, Khakassia).

In 1990, the St. Petersburg plant “Petroshina” left the Red Triangle association. The company specializes in the production of tires for motorcycles, bicycles, and mopeds.

In the last two or three years, two more joint ventures in the industry have emerged in Russia. A plant of the Finnish concern Nokian opened in Vsevolozhsk (Leningrad region) (the similarity of natural conditions in Russia and Finland increases the popularity of winter tires of this famous brand). In the village of Davydovo near Moscow (Orekhovo-Zuevsky district, Moscow region), a Michelin tire plant was launched.

The share of foreign brands in the Russian passenger tire market is no more than 15%, and it is unlikely to increase in the near future. After all, at Russian tire factories there is an increase in production, the quality of tires is improving, and modern technologies are being used. The growth of imports is hampered by high import duties on retreaded tires and tires for passenger cars.

Russia imports tires, but also exports them. About 15% of all passenger car tires produced in Russia go abroad, mainly to the CIS countries. The export of Russian passenger tires to the industrialized countries of the world is unlikely to acquire any significant significance in the foreseeable future. But truck tires from Russia successfully compete in foreign markets.

Russian tire production*
2002, thousand pieces

* Including tires for cars, buses, agricultural vehicles, motorcycles and scooters.

According to Rosstat

The entire tire production process can be roughly divided into five stages: rubber compound production, tire parts production, tire assembly, vulcanization and quality control.

At the stage of manufacturing rubber compounds, various components are mixed until a homogeneous mass is obtained. This happens in a special closed-type mixer when heated to 120 degrees Celsius. Different types of compounds used in different parts of the tire require different components, mixing intensity and process temperature. You can read more about rubber compounds in our article “”.

To produce one type of tire, several different rubber compounds are required. One type of rubber is used to make treads, while others are used to make tire parts.

At the stage of manufacturing tire parts, materials are prepared that strengthen the tire structure: impregnation, drying, heat treatment and rubber coating. Bead rings, textile cord and steel belts are rubberized. The final step in component manufacturing is shaping the parts into their final shape.

In total, up to 30 components are used in the production of one tire, most of which play the role of amplifiers.

The finished parts are sent to the tire assembly machine. In modern enterprises, such a machine is an automated complex operating under the control of an operator (assembler). It consists of rotating drums on which the workpieces are assembled and a feeder to supply the assembler with components for assembly.

Tire assembly is the most complex process, which, despite mechanization and automation, has a large share of manual operations. The tire frame is assembled on one drum, and its side part on the other. After assembly is completed, the drums align and press the workpieces, giving them the shape of a tire. As a rule, factories have several assembly machines installed at once, working for the production of small-sized, medium-sized and large-sized tires.

During the vulcanization process, the tire blank enters a hardening press (vulcanizer), where the tread is formed and the rubber mixture has the necessary elasticity. To do this, it is placed in a vulcanization mold, where the membrane, under pressure from hot water and steam, forms a tread pattern. The process occurs at high temperatures, which activates the vulcanization process, in which the sulfur contained in the rubber compound creates bonds with polymer chains. At this point, the rubber changes from a plastic state to an elastic state.

Each manufacturer has its own quality control process to ensure compliance with internal regulations and international standards. As a rule, it consists of two stages. At the first stage, tires undergo a visual inspection, and at the second stage they are checked using special equipment. Visual inspection allows you to identify external defects that may affect the performance characteristics of the tire. Next, the tire passes through special equipment, which measures its weight, balance, internal structure and characteristics under load.

Based on the results of quality control, tires are marked according to the standard size, speed and load indices and are stored.

Tire- This is the only part of the car that comes into contact with the road. The area of ​​this contact (contact patch) is approximately equal to the area of ​​one human palm. Thus, the car is held on the road with only four palms! Therefore, tires are without a doubt a very important element of driving safety.

In addition to the very important task of providing traction and controllability of the car, the tire must also provide comfort, wear resistance, reduce fuel consumption and complement the appearance of the car. The need to combine such different characteristics makes tire design a much more complex process than it might seem at first glance. And the production of tires involves no less research and technology than the creation of a mobile phone.

Conventionally, the stages that a tire goes through before hitting store shelves can be divided into 3 stages:

Market analysis

Model simulation and testing

Mass production

Market analysis

When researching the market, Michelin pays great attention to the needs of drivers, not only current, but also possible future tire requirements. The development of the automobile market is also being monitored.

Particular attention is paid to the peculiarities of using tires in specific conditions, which include not only driving characteristics, but also climatic conditions, road specifics and surface quality.

All this allows us to fully satisfy the needs of the most demanding customers.

Model simulation and testing

Based on the data obtained, painstaking work begins on creating the future tire. This process involves not only chemists and designers, but also many other specialists, for example, industrial designers.

The success of the future tire depends on the joint work of various specialists. A high-quality and reliable tire is not so much a technological secret as a real art, which consists in the correct selection, dosage and interconnection of the various components of the tire.

Creating a rubber compound

Its development, preparation and production is akin to creating a culinary masterpiece. This is the most secret part of the tire, and although about 20 main components are widely and well known, it is not possible to learn more about the rubber compound. After all, the secret lies not only in the components of the mixture, but in their competent combination and balance, which will give the tire its specific functions.

The main elements of a tire's rubber compound:

Rubber.There are two types - natural and synthetic, added to the rubber mixture in various proportions depending on the purpose of the tire, and is its basis. Natural rubber is the dried sap of the Hevea tree; it is also found in other types of plants, such as dandelions, but due to the complexity of the production process, it is not produced from the latter.

Synthetic rubber is a product made from petroleum. Currently, several dozen different synthetic rubbers are used, each of which has its own characteristic features that affect the specific characteristics of the tire. The latest generations of synthetic rubbers are very close in properties to natural ones, but the tire industry still cannot abandon the latter.

Carbon black.A significant part of the rubber mixture consists of industrial carbon black (carbon black), a filler offered in various versions and giving the tire its specific black color. Carbon black was first used in tires at the beginning of the 20th century; before that time, tires were pale yellow (the color of natural rubber). The main purpose of carbon black is to create reliable molecular compounds to give the rubber mixture special strength and wear resistance.

Silicon dioxide (silica).This component was once introduced into the rubber mixture as a replacement for carbon black. In the process of testing the new composition, it was revealed that silicon dioxide cannot displace soot from the rubber mixture, since it does not provide the same high strength of rubber. However, the new component improved the tire's grip on wet road surfaces and reduced rolling resistance. As a result, these two elements are now used together in the tire, with each of them giving the tire its best qualities.

Sulfur.It is one of the components involved in vulcanization. Through this process, the plastic raw rubber compound is transformed into elastic and durable rubber.

When creating a tire, work is carried out not only on the characteristics of the tire, but also on the aesthetic side; a large number of different tread pattern designs are considered. The use of modeling methods allows you to select a pattern that best complements the existing rubber compound and the internal structure of the future tire. Based on the results of computer modeling, the best samples are put into production and subjected to real tests.

Every year, Michelin specialists carry out numerous tests, during which over 1.6 billion km are driven. That's approximately 40,000 trips around the globe. During the testing process, the final features of the future tire are being finalized. Once all tests have been completed and the results correspond to the initial specifications, the tire is put into mass production.

Production

The initial stage of launching any tire into mass production is preparing production sites.

The Michelin company owns. And the main task of this stage is to adjust each production process in such a way that the tire meets not only the original technical specifications, but also in all respects does not differ from a similar tire produced in any other country.

In a subsequent mass production process, each MICHELIN tire is produced by highly trained specialists using a variety of manual and automatic equipment. When necessary, Michelin designs its own equipment to meet production needs.

Main stages of tire production:

Preparation of rubber mixtures. As mentioned above, the formulation of each rubber compound is the basis for providing the tire with the necessary functions.

Creating bus components. At this stage, a tread belt is formed from the resulting rubber, and the “skeleton” of the tire is created - a frame and a breaker. The first is made of layers of rubberized textile threads, and the second is made of rubberized high-strength metal cord. The tire bead is also prepared, with which the tire is attached to the rim. Its main part is a bead ring made of many turns of wire.

Assembly. Layers of the frame and breaker, bead rings, and a tread with sidewalls are sequentially applied to a special assembly drum. Then all these tire parts are combined into a single whole - the tire blank.

Curing. The prepared workpiece is placed in a vulcanizer mold. Steam is supplied inside the tire under high pressure and the outer surface of the mold is heated. Under pressure, a relief pattern is drawn along the sidewalls and tread. A chemical reaction (vulcanization) occurs, which gives the rubber elasticity and strength.

A particularly important element of production is quality control. It begins with checking the quality of each tire element at the procurement stage, is present at every stage of production and ends with a multi-level audit of the finished product..

The guarantee of the quality of Michelin products is also the presence of a production guarantee - 5 years from the date of production. The manufacturer's warranty covers defects in workmanship and materials.