Help create a society of sustainable mobility
Support the enjoyment of mobility for all

• Environmental contribution (CO₂ emissions reduction): Reducing tire rolling resistance, improving EV compatibility, saving resources
• Safety: Maintenance-free products, diagnosis of tire wear
• Commercializing airless tires
• Ultimate enjoyment of driving and sophisticated features

Relevant stakeholders

Direct:Customers(consumers), suppliers, employees, research institutions
Indirect:Shareholders and investors, creditors, local communities, NGOs/NPOs, industry groups

• R&D expenses: 13,587 million yen *including 1,716 million yen for basic research expenses
• Expenses related to environmental conservation during R&D activities: 585 million yen
• Capital investment in rationalization, improving quality and enhancing production facilities: 17,673 million yen
• R&D bases: 5 bases (Japan, US, Germany)
• We are strengthening our unique technologies and developing differentiated products by encouraging cooperation between our R&D functions in Japan, the US and Europe. We also conduct joint research with multiple universities and research institutes.

Reducing the environmental impact of mobility

Improvements in fuel efficiency with each new model release

Reducing vehicles’ CO₂ emissions is a challenging issue that needs to be addressed throughout the supply chain in order to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. At Toyo Tire Corporation, our goal is to help reduce CO₂ emissions per tire by 20% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels and our functional organizations collaborate to develop products. When planning model changes for priority, or core, products based on our medium-term product development plan, the product planning function works closely with the sales function to monitor trends in individual markets and also incorporates performance and functions that can also be applied to EVs, including fuel efficiency, into its product development requirements. In anticipation of potential trends in the automotive market and required levels of tire performance and functionality, our R&D function has established a technology development framework that collates repeated refinements of platform technologies over a medium- to long-term time span and achieves a high-level of product planning. We will continue to improve fuel efficiency across our product lineup to help reduce the environmental impact of mobility.
In April 2025, we launched the OPEN COUNTRY H/T II highway terrain tire^*1 in the Japanese market that complements the OPEN COUNTRY series’ renowned designability with added quietness and fuel efficiency. After initially launching the OPEN COUNTRY series in Japan to coincide with the expansion of the SUV market, we received multiple requests from dealers and other channels to enhance the product lineup by offering an aggressive pattern design and performance that was more attuned to city driving. That feedback inspired the development of the OPEN COUNTRY H/T II. Nano Balance Technology was used to increase the amount of silica, thus improving rubber strength, and super active polymer was added to enhance silica dispersion, allowing us to optimize fuel efficiency, wet performance, and wear resistance to a high degree. Rolling resistance has been reduced by 17% compared to the conventional OPEN COUNTRY A/T EX, boosting fuel efficiency.

• *1 A category of quieter tires that are better suited to driving on paved roads and highways and offer higher degree of driving comfort than the all-terrain category.

Our unique EV strategy

The global shift toward EVs may be slowing down, but they still represent one of the most effective ways of reducing automobile CO₂ emissions, so we expect the spread of EVs to continue as energy conditions and automobile usage in different countries and regions evolve.
For example, if we break down CO₂ emissions in Japan by sector, the transport sector accounts for roughly 20%^*2 of total emissions, and modal shifts and other efforts to promote decarbonization are being pursued in earnest across the transportation industry. The shift toward EVs for transportation vehicles is also progressing, and commercial vehicle manufacturers have begun enhancing their EV truck lineup. Furthermore, now that major shipping and transportation companies are required to switch to non-fossil energy, demand for EV trucks will likely increase further going forward.^*3
To address these trends, Toyo Tire Corporation introduced the NANOENERGY M151 EV ribbed tire specifically for light EV trucks into the Japanese market in June 2024, followed by the NANOENERGY M951 EV, the first studless tire for light EV trucks in September of the same year.
Considerable emphasis is being placed on EV cruising range on a single charge, and tires are expected to achieve a level of fuel efficiency (energy efficiency for EV tires) that helps extend that cruising range. Furthermore, we have to develop specific tire performance elements exclusively for EVs. This is because EVs exert a heavier load on tires due to their heavier weight when equipped with batteries and the increased acceleration performance generated by powerful EV driving force. The use of regenerative braking^*4 can also affect the manoeuvrability of EVs.
When developing the necessary products, we designed an optimal compound using nano composite polymer, a material developed through our proprietary Nano Balance Technology, which reduced rolling resistance and improved wear resistance. With the NANOENERGY M151 EV in particular, we optimized the tire’s aerodynamic characteristics^*5 by using our proprietary aerodynamic simulation, which derives advance predictions of the level of air resistance that tires and vehicles will likely be subjected to during driving and incorporates those data into the product design. This is the first time this simulation has been used in truck and bus tire design.
These two NANOENERGY EV tires were recognized at the 2024 Good Design Awards sponsored by the Japanese Institute of Design Promotion. They were highly praised for addressing the shift toward EVs in the transportation industry from a design perspective and for generating high-level improvements in both performance and durability.

• *2 National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan
  National GHG Inventory Document of JAPAN (P2-4)
• *3 Japan Trucking Association 2024 (P6)
• *4 A form of electric braking that uses shaft rotation power to convert kinetic energy into electrical energy that can be captured and reused, as opposed to, under normal conditions, using a motor to convert electric power into a driving rotational force
• *5 Special characteristics associated with air resistance and air flow exerted on an object that is moving or being propelled through air

Ensuring safety and security in mobility

Balancing safety and environmental performance

Adapting to changing weather patterns and road surfaces

The warmer winter weather observed in Japan, Europe, and other regions over recent years has changed winter road surface conditions. More surfaces are getting slippery due to large temperature differentials and the repeated freezing and thawing of snow, with snow melting during warmer daytime temperatures, turning into slush, and then freezing again at night when temperatures drop, turning to ice. The performance of studless tires needs to be improved to address these changing conditions.
The Toyo Tire Group has especially been focusing on improving tire performance on ice because that has a significant impact on automobile driving safety. In August 2024, we launched the OBSERVE GIZ3 studless tire for the Japanese market with improved and longer-lasting braking performance and start-up traction on icy roads. Tire adhesion on icy road surfaces has been improved by using T-MODE snow prediction technology to design new tire patterns, along with rubber compounds that stay soft even in low temperatures thanks to a blend of new materials such as sustainable high adhesion gel and sustainer grip polymer. This has helped achieve a 22% improvement in braking performance on icy roads over the previous model, the OBSERVE GIZ2.