PIRELLI

Pirelli tires to be banned in the US, reason: suspicious sensors connected

It's decided! Starting in 2027, all software connected to China will be banned from being sold in the US, and in 2029, the ban will be extended to hardware. Several companies will have their products removed from this market by this measure, and one of them is the Italian company Pirelli, one of the most reputable tire manufacturers in the world, which exports 25% of its production to the US.

In recent days, there has been much talk about Norway and Denmark, Nordic countries that discovered that the Chinese electric buses they acquired from Yutong had the ability to connect to China via a Romanian-origin SIM card, which would allow them to block the opening of doors or stop them remotely, according to Norwegian researchers, among other options that would impede the proper functioning of local transport. This led other countries to investigate whether their public transport vehicles also allowed remote control from a foreign country and, to top it off, of questionable reliability.

The stir caused by the Norwegian discovery, relating to the bus software, drew attention to a previous US decision, dating back to President Biden's time and formalized by the Office of Industry and Security, integrated into the US Department of Commerce. Due to a lack of trust in China and Russia, the US created a law to protect the local industry that bans the sale of equipment that uses software or hardware controlled by Chinese or Russian companies, mainly in vehicles circulating in the country. Pirelli was reportedly informed of the US decision in April, anticipating its entry into force in 2027, with authorities distrusting the fact that the Chinese state-owned company Sinochem Corporation owns 37% of Pirelli.

The problem does not affect all Pirelli tires, but rather the so-called Cyber ​​Tires, which are equipped with a new type of sensor — the Advance Tire Integrated Sensor — associated with a system that stores information and sends it to the manufacturer, also receiving data packets to update or change its operation in real time and during use. The stated objective of these new sensors incorporated into each tire is to determine the pressure at each instant, load, wear, temperature, and type of use, information that is then processed to make driving safer. Still, everything indicates that the US authorities fear that the exchange of data may go beyond what has been announced, hence the ban on commercialization.

Automakers that equip their vehicles destined for the US market with Cyber ​​Tires may request special authorization to continue fitting these Pirelli tires, but it is unlikely that this will have any effect, as it is public knowledge that Pirelli CEO Andrea Casaluci admitted to having tried (unsuccessfully) to resolve the company's governance problem with Sinochem. This means being excluded from its main market, since the Italians sell 40% of their Cyber ​​Tires in the US. Also, the third largest shareholder of Pirelli (after the Chinese with 37% and Italian institutional investors with 29.7%), the Italian businessman Marco Tronchetti Provera (with 22.8%) accused Sinochem of harming the company, driving it away from its largest market and preventing it from expanding in the US.

Italy's Pirelli seeks to avoid US restrictions due to Chinese investor...Italy is working to prevent tire manufacturer Pirelli from facing US restrictions related to its Chinese shareholder, according to Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso.

"Our goal is to ensure that the company can operate in the best possible way in the most promising market, namely the American market," Urso said on Thursday.

Italian investor Camfin, which holds a stake in Pirelli, has expressed concerns that having China's Sinochem as the company's main shareholder is creating obstacles for Pirelli's expansion plans in the United States. This comes as Washington tightens restrictions on Chinese technology in the automotive sector.

A Reuters report previously indicated that Sinochem is willing to consider offers for its stake in Pirelli, but only if they include a premium. This development follows the Italian government's statement earlier this week that the Chinese group was not violating rules intended to protect Pirelli's autonomy.

Autonews