Michelin considering car tyre production in India

In June 2020, India’s government introduced new legislation that significantly limited tyre imports into the country, with companies intending to do so requiring a license. As one of many manufacturers affected by this rule, Michelin scaled back its imports of passenger tyres and limited these to selected products for performance cars. Further expansion in India will require local production, and the question for Michelin doesn’t seem to be if, but rather when.

Speaking with the Press Trust of India (PTI), chief executive officer Florent Menegaux confirmed that the tyre maker was “reaching the moment” at which it will “make sense” to invest in passenger car tyre capacity in India. Commenting that Michelin’s strategy “everywhere” is to import tyres until reaching a “certain volume” and then implement local production, Menegaux noted that Michelin had “developed a good market in the passenger car segment with imports” prior to 2020.

Restrictions upon imports have presumably delayed Michelin’s timetable for setting up a car tyre plant in India, and even now it isn’t ready to say when such a project will begin. “It is not a question whether we should invest in India, the question is when,” said Menegaux.

Truck & two-wheeler tyre production

Michelin has been present in India as a manufacturer for almost a decade, producing its first truck and bus tyres at a facility 30 miles north of Chennai in 2014. The plant has an annual capacity of 30,000 tonnes following an expansion project implemented in 2017-18. Michelin two-wheeler tyres are also produced in India under an agreement with TVS Srichakra.