Research and Innovation

The focal point of the Pirelli Group’s growth strategy is its capacity to innovate products and processes and assess new opportunities stemming from its continuing research activities.

The expenditures for R&D activities borne by the Group, and completely expensed to income since such expenditures do not meet the requirements for capitalization established by accounting principles, amount to Euros 156 million, equivalent to 3.3% of sales.

With regard to the tyre sector, which incurred costs equal to Euros 145 million, in addition to its traditional R&D work focusing on the development of new top-of-the-range products (e.g. UHP, Winter, Runflat, SUV and motorcycle tyres), increasingly, more attention is being paid to reducing environmental impact, by exploiting technological components and cutting-edge know-how.

In real estate, R&D activities focused on supporting "Eco-building", that is, erecting buildings with a high standard of environmental sustainability, quality and efficiency in terms of energy consumption.

The Pirelli Group plans to register as many patents as twice wich have been registered in the last ten years.