Sumitomo Rubber plans tires free of oil

TOKYO (Reuters) – Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd, Japan’s second-biggest tire maker, plans to start selling in Japan tires that include no petrochemical materials by 2013, a company spokesman said on Tuesday.

The company has set a medium-term strategy to fight climate change by introducing a tire which uses as little raw material made from oil as possible and at the same time that spins more smoothly to save more fuel than a conventional tire.