CEAT Ltd.
In India tyre prices are “tumbling” in response to the government’s decision to cut excise tax by eight per cent, local news sources have reported. According to India’s Economic Times, MRF and Ceat have announced 4 – 6 per cent price cuts, while others such as Apollo, Goodyear and Birla Tyres are likely to follow the same lead. This means that typical non-radial bus and truck tyres are 1000 rupees cheaper.
Tyre dealers across India are urging the government to lower the import duty on tyres to five per cent from the existing 20 per cent. The request aims to “checkmate the activities of the domestic tyre majors,” reports Team India.
Indian tyre stocks are riding high in expectance of a reduction in replacement tyre excise duty in the country’s forthcoming budget. According to sources quoted in India’s Business Standard, the expectance of a 24 per cent to 16 per cent reduction has led to renewed interest from institutional investors.
Yesterday Ceat shares rose 6.71 per cent to 75.50 rupees, Goodyear India stock went up 3.89 per cent to 70.85 rupees, MRF up 3.61 per cent to 2,733.05 rupees and JK Tyres up 15.41 per cent to close at 86.90 rupees, the magazine reports. The recent share price increase, however, is set against a background of increased raw material costs.
The Indian tyre industry has grown at a rate of 8.3 per cent over the last decade, mainly fuelled by strong growth in the domestic car industry, according to research and markets. A new report from the analysts concludes that although the replacement market has driven the industry, the OE market has also seen robust growth over the last couple of years.
Confirming these findings, Apollo Tyres recently posted third quarter results showing a 7.74 per cent rise in net profits to £2,060,000 for the quarter ended 31 December. In response, Apollo shares were trading at 253.90 rupees, up 1.56 per cent.
The industry is highly capital intensive, requiring around 4 billion rupees to set up a radial plant with a capacity of 1.5 million tyres, and around 1.5 – 2 million to construct a crossply plant of the same capacity, research and markets reports. The Indian industry is dominated by a few main players. MRF, Apollo Tyres, JK Industries and Ceat all enjoy more than 70 per cent of the total market share.
There has been much talk about the Chinese tyre market in recent months. Now, following the news of Amtel’s takeover of Vredestein, and the collapse of one of Continental’s joint ventures, the Russian market has been a hot topic. But what about India?
The Indian market may not be as large as Russia’s, but it certainly offers many challenges and opportunities to the companies working within it.
One such opportunity is radialisation. Currently radial products only make up a very small percentage of the Indian truck tyre segment, around two per cent. And, according to those involved, there is a large backlog in demand.
For instance, just recently Michelin entered into a joint venture with Apollo Tyres in order to produce radial truck and bus tyres destined for the domestic market. Pirelli and its partner, Ceat Ltd is also looking to fill the same gap in the market. No doubt other Indian manufacturers will follow suit in the future.
Another example, and in this case a big technological challenge, is the production of radial passenger car tyres. Even so, this sector is way ahead of the truck market with 85 per cent of the segment occupied by radial tyres. According to industry association ATMA this figure is likely to peak at 97 per cent in the coming years.
But one of the biggest factors influencing the Indian tyre market is the advance of motorisation. As this process gains momentum, more and more Indians want to and can afford to own passenger cars. In the last 10 years automobile production in India has quadrupled, last year alone it increased by an impressive 36 per cent.
Within the pages of this supplement on the emerging Indian market, TYRES & ACCESSORIES will give an overview of the major factors that are influencing the market and the big players that are trying to stake a claim in a market they believe should be theirs.
Subscribers to Tyres & Accessories can download the supplement in advance of publication. Please click the more button to download the file.
Ceat has entered the Indian all-steel truck radial market, with products designed and manufactured for the Indian market by Pirelli, Europe. In the 2004/2005 financial year, the company projects a sales turnover in the region of 19.05 billion rupees (approximately £220 million). Ceat says it is eager to tap into the growing truck radial market hoping that eventually 10-15 per cent of its business will come from steel radials.
Currently the use of truck steel radials in India is about two per cent, the is considerably less than neighbouring Pakistan (35 per cent) and a world apart from Europe (90 per cent). The proportion of steel readial in the Indian truck tyre market is projected to touch 10 per cent by 2007, Ceat’s vice-president, sales and marketing, Kalyan K Paul, said.
According to the company, the use of its truck radial products can increase initial mileage by over 50 per cent, achieve fuel savings off up to 10 per cent and provide better traction and braking.
The TIA has inducted Mario Marangoni into the TIA Hall of Fame. At the beginning of November, during the SEMA show, the TIA made the award in order to recognise the company president’s “leadership and entrepreneurial ability.” As a company, Marangoni sees the award as an achievement that recognises the success of the Italian tyre industry in addition to its international business.
The stocks prices of tyre companies have gone skyrocketed in the last few months following the auto boom. Share prices of tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres increased from Rs 193.00 to Rs 259.85, Ceat appreciated from Rs 44.85 to Rs 63.85 and JK Industries moved up from Rs 38.90 to Rs 86.20. Vikrant Tyre gained from Rs 18.05 to Rs 75.30, Falcon Tyres increased from Rs 23.80 to Rs 26.75 and Goodyear Industries appreciated from Rs 33.70 to Rs 50.30. Govind Rubber gained from Rs 8.49 to Rs 16.32, MRF jumped from Rs 1418.45 to Rs 2097.35, while Premier Tyre increased from Rs 9.15 to Rs 12.38 and Krypton Industries appreciated from Rs 11.21 to Rs 18.00. Making local tyres available at fair prices would emerge as the key factor to Indian rubber goods manufactures taking advantage of the auto boom.
Indian company Ceat is poised to treble imports of Pirelli radials to 15,000 tyres a month. Ceat claims a six per cent share of the radial tyre sector and is aiming to increase this to 10 per cent in the near future.
For the second year running, Bridgestone and MRF Tyres have tied in first place in the JD Power Asia Pacific 2003 India Tire Customer Satisfaction Index Study, which examines customer satisfaction with originally-fitted tyres after 12 to 18 months of ownership. 2,700 owners were quizzed on 15 different attributes. The overall average score improved by 28 points over last year, reflecting the efforts made to enhance customer satisfaction. Top score was 768 (maximum = 1,000) and Bridgestone and MRF were closely followed by JK Tyres (766, just above the industry average of 764). Goodyear scored 751 and CEAT was the lowest, with 730.
Indian manufacturer Ceat Ltd has caused a stir by agreeing to outsource some 10,000 tyres per month from Pirelli. Recently Indian companies have sought to find cheaper alternative products by buying from other, lower cost markets but this move goes against the trend with Ceat importing higher cost, higher quality products from a world leading brand. The reasons are said to be to fill the gap left by the collapse of the Ceat – Goodyear JV to produce radials and to try and give the company a foothold in the growing radial tyre market without setting up another manufacturing operation in India. It may also offer a low risk opportunity to test the Indian market’s capacity for high quality, high cost premium brand products. The outcome of the exercise may alter the nature of the Indian tyre market according to some commentators.
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