New Indian Plant for Michelin

As the 51/49 per cent joint venture between Michelin and Apollo Tyres has failed to materialise, the French tyremaker now plans to establish its own truck and bus radial manufacturing facility in the Indian city of Pune.

In 2004, Apollo and Michelin announced an agreement for setting up a production unit in the same region to produce truck and bus radials, and this plant would have had an annual capacity of 300,000-350,000 units. However the following year Apollo Tyres and the Michelin group agreed to “realign their business plans” and announced Apollo’s departure from the venture.

Michelin has already secured a location for the new factory and have reportedly negotiated to supply OE tyres to BMW cars produced in Chennai. Competitor Bridgestone is also said to be considering the possibility of setting up a truck and bus radial manufacturing facility in India, as its existing facilities would most likely not accommodate the production of such tyres.