TVS Eurogrip arrives in agri market with modern VF range

TVS Eurogrip is a well-known name in the motorcycle and scooter tyre market, but this brand recognition doesn’t carry over into Europe’s agricultural segment. Not yet, at any rate. But brand manufacturer TVS Srichakra has its sights set on growth and is expanding its off-highway tyre plant. The company is now contemplating further investment.

We met S Mathan Babu, Vice-President of OHT Sales & Marketing, at the Agritechnica fair last week. He observed that in contrast with the two-wheeler segment, where TVS Eurogrip and its sister brands rank number fourth or fifth worldwide in terms of sales and are market leader at home in India, the brand’s off-highway products aren’t yet widely known as the range previously focused on smaller sized tyres.

“We mainly offered implement, forklift and industrial tyres, but three years ago we announced an investment in off-highway radials. This plant started in October last year.” Following the completion of phase one of this expansion at the Madurai plant in Tamil Nadu at the end of 2022, the company intends to implement phase two during the coming months.

“This project has increased capacity for big tyres by 500 per cent and doubled overall off-highway capacity,” confirms Mathan Babu. “It has brought us technology for VF tyres and steel radials.”

VF products now available

It doesn’t at all faze the VP of OHT Sales & Marketing that TVS Eurogrip’s key value segment rivals already offer similar products. Quoting a line from a favourite Indian film, Mathan Babu notes that “if we come late, we come as the latest.”

What he means is that while competitor brands have product portfolios that include both VF and older, legacy technologies, the TVS Eurogrip range is entirely modern. He also sees a second advantage for TVS Eurogrip: “Those who began focusing on agricultural tyres a few years ago ended making the wrong tyres in some cases. They focused on smaller tyres that customers didn’t necessarily want.”

The TVS Eurogrip range at Agritechnica included agricultural, row crop and flotation radials, tractor tyres as well as tyres for the industrial and construction segments (Photo: Stephen Goodchild / Tyre Industry Publications Ltd)

Competitive pricing

The TVS Eurogrip line-up at Agritechnica covered the company’s latest products for the European market, including agricultural, row crop and flotation radials, tractor tyres as well as tyres for the industrial and construction segments. GB Tyres distributes these in the UK aftermarket.

S Mathan Babu tells us that product quality is benchmarked against premium products, but pricing is competitive even for the value segment. “We need to position ourselves at this price level until we’re better established,” he elaborates. “Our idea is that people can get to know the product first, get to know the brand quality, and then we can make some money a little bit later.”

Achieving top-level quality doesn’t come cheap, and TVS Srichakra is thus investing in design and technology. The company already operates a Product Design & Development centre in Milan as well as similar facilities in the USA (where it recently acquired local firm Super Grip to boost its OHT sector activities), Israel and Japan. The TVS Eurogrip team also works closely with farmers and agricultural contractors in many European countries, including the UK, who extensively test products prior to their commercial debut.

Additional investments in the pipeline

Going forwards, the Indian tyre maker intends to invest further in both off-highway tyre production and in its European operations. S Mathan Babu shares that TVS Srichakra plans to “invest in another plant,” however he does not elaborate on details such as capacities and the anticipated timetable for construction. He also states that the company is “considering investing further in Europe.” In addition to its existing R&D presence in Italy, the tyre maker sees a need to set up an office and warehousing within the region.