India’s JK Tyre has told the country’s Economic Times that it will likely increase the price of its product range by a figure of up to 4 per cent. The rise would be put down to higher costs, especially natural rubber. The online report also said that JK Tyres’s prices have risen by more than 10 per cent since May.
India’s JK Tyre & Industries looks likely to increase its tyre prices by four to five per cent before the first week of September in order to offset the rising cost of rubber. The company’s marketing director A S Mehta commented that rubber costs have put the tyre maker under increasing pressure in recent times and the proposed price increase will apply to all tyre segments. JK Tyre last increased prices in July, when a three per cent rise was implemented.
JK Tyre & Industries, manufacturer of the JK Tyre, Vikrant and Tornel brands of tyre, has reported a 32 per cent increase in sales in the first quarter of the Indian financial year. In the three months to June 30, 2010, the company achieved a turnover of RS 12,729 million (£171.9 million) and an operating profit of Rs 730 million (£9.9 million). Net profit for the quarter was Rs 195.3 million (£2.6 million), down 52.1 per cent per cent year-on year.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on August 4 between JK Tyre and Industries and India’s Tamil Nadu Government for the establishment of a greenfield tyre factory within the state. The plant, to be established with an Rs 15 billion (£204.3 million) investment, will produce both passenger car truck and bus radials and have an annual capacity of 5.6 million tyres.
Sonil Ventilfabrik recently hosted the 27th Meeting of the Indian Tyre Technical Advisory Committees (ITTAC) Tube & Valve Sub-Committee. The event was held at the Sugati Beach Resort between 1 and 2 July.
For the year ended March 31, 2010, JK Tyre & Industries reports consolidated net sales of Rs 45,706 million (₤672.2 million). A comparison with the previous financial period is not possible, notes the tyre maker, as the fiscal period ending March 31, 2009 was an 18-month period. Net profit for the year to March 31, 2010 stands at Rs 2,197 million (₤32.3 million). JK Tyre & Industries comments that its sales and profits for the year “are the highest ever, despite disruption of operations at Kankroli Tyre Plant, Rajasthan for three months owing to [an] illegal strike by workmen during the year.” Revenue from the company’s operations in India amounted to Rs 36,777 million (₤540.8 million) while those in Mexico came to Rs 8,934 million (₤131.5 million).
India’s JK Tyre & Industries has outlined plans for a new greenfield facility capable of producing 2.5 million passenger radials and 400,000 truck and bus radials per annum. “We will set up a greenfield plant near Chennai and invest Rs 930 crore (₤136.7 million) in that. The plant will be completed by 2012,” JK Tyre & Industries Vice chairman and managing director Raghupati Singhania. JK Tyre & Industries has reportedly already acquired more than 100 acres of land for the factory. According to the company’s president and director, Arun K Bajoria, just under a third of the total planned investment will be funded through internal accruals and the rest will be raised from various financial institutions.
Bridgestone has said that it will produce 1,500 more tyres per day and raise the price of its tyres by 3.5 per cent in India, according to a newswire issued by Dow Jones. The rise comes on the back of increased raw materials prices, Bridgestone India general manager of sales and marketing, Vaibhav Saraf told the assembled throng at a news conference, Dow Jones NewsPlus reports.
Indian tyre makers are putting up prices in response to the continued rise in the cost of natural rubber. Apollo Tyres is said to be increasing prices by between two and four per cent, although one online source states the Apollo prices will rise by up to seven per cent as early as May. During an interview, company vice chairman and managing director Neeraj Kanwar said further increases cannot be ruled out should the cost of rubber continue its upward course.
Of the 3,874 drivers questioned in the latest J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2010 India Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Index (TCSI) Study, over 80 per cent who were highly satisfied with their original equipment tyres said they will purchase the same brand for their next set of tyres. Good news for tyremaker MRF, which came top of JD Power’s 10th annual study of this kind.
The study, which measures satisfaction among original equipment tyre owners during the first 12 to 24 months of ownership and is based on scores measured with a 1,000-point scale, found that customers who are highly satisfied are more than twice as likely as highly dissatisfied customers to recommend their original equipment tyre brand. It was fielded between May and August 2009.
India’s major tyre manufacturers have seen their shares jump up to 4.9 per cent in value today amidst reports of price hikes across the four biggest domestic names. Bloomberg UTV reports that Apollo Tyres (up 4.9 per cent), CEAT (2.54), JK Tyre (2.32) and MRF (1.61) all saw their stock rise in value, following reports that CEAT is raising its prices by between two and five per cent, while Apollo and JK Tyre are to make a decision later on the size of their price increases.
You may not have heard of him before, but tyre maker JK Tyre is backing Aditya Patel as a driving “prodigy and India’s most promising driver.” JK Tyre’s comments come in advance of the forthcoming VW Scirocco Cup that starts in April 2010 in Germany. 21-year old Aditya will also be the first Indian to drive a Green Racing car as the Scirocco runs on ERD Bio gas, something which is said to be global first.
JK Tyre, which has been supporting Aditya in his professional training and participation in various national and International motorsport events, is also one of his lead sponsors in this endeavor. The Scirocco Cup will be held as the partner series of the hugely popular DTM in its 2010 debut season. Staged as the most eco-friendly one-make championship in the world, the sporting equipment: the racing version of the Scirocco is powered by an innovative biogas engine that achieves an 80-per cent reduction of CO2 emissions compared with conventional engines.
It appears tyre manufacturers in India do not see eye to eye with the country’s vehicle manufacturers on the subject of anti-dumping duties. These tariffs, introduced in January and applied to imports of radial tyres from China, have been criticised by major automakers such as Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland, who say plans to expand have been affected by a shortfall in commercial vehicle radial capacity within India.
Some Rs 8 billion (£109.7 million) are to be invested in a new JK Tyre & Industries greenfield facility and the construction of a new research and development facility. The new plant will reportedly produce passenger car and truck and bus radials for both the domestic and export markets, however no specific information on plant capacity has yet been made. The southern Indian state of Karnataka appears to be the most likely location for the new development, a decision that may have been influenced by the regional government’s offer of incentives.
JK Tyre and Industries is aiming to substantially increase exports from Tornel, the Mexican company it acquired last year. According to the Press Trust of India the company aims to do this within a year through further expand within the Central and South American markets.
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