India: Tubeless Sales Remain Flat

Tubeless tyre sales in India remain flat despite the best promotional efforts of manufacturers. According to the Business Standard, tubeless products “have failed to impress buyers.”

“The infrastructure development and the road conditions have not kept pace with the technology development. The sales of tubeless tyres is restricted to the higher segment premium cars and still not many here are aware about the benefits of tubeless tyres,” said the regional service manager of JK Tyre.

Sales of the more expensive tubeless tyres reportedly make up 10 per cent of total tyre sales. Customer awareness and a shortage of skilled tyre dealers are both said to have contributed to the problem. “There are not enough repairers available when there are problems in the tyre,” an MRF official told Business Standard.

However, demand is growing and is expected to increase further. Goodyear’s Rajkumar Raghuvanshi remarked: “The awareness about tubeless tyres is increasing and a higher number of people are opting for it.” Goodyear has sought to address these problems head-on, running awareness programmes and also providing free repair kits to repairers. Goodyear reportedly produces 75,000 tubeless tyres per month in India.