Leading tyre manufacturer Bridgestone, has announced that the company is now focusing on Ultra-High performance tyres for high-end passenger vehicles (PV) in India.
Bridgestone India which is a subsidiary of the Japanese tyre manufacturer is focusing on expanding its legacy despite the limitations that the Indian Government has introduced in the tyre manufacturing segment. The company is expecting increased sales even though there are limitations.
The new import regulations has drastically effected the sales of high-end products, however the company is ready to accept the challenges.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, amended the import policy for tyres in June 2020. Under this amendment, new pneumatic tyres from an open general licence (OGL) now comes under the restricted list.
Parag Satpute, managing director, Bridgestone India, stated that more than 95 percent of the tyres sold in the Indian market are being locally produced. However, the import curbs are expected to have limited impact but not without their own challenges. Satpute mentioned that the company is expecting the licences for import of high-end tyres.
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“The challenge is, of course, for small volumes of very high-end tyres, where the high-end car population in India is very low that it doesn’t make economic sense to produce those in India. But our understanding is that if you make an application and you draw this justification, then licences will be issued. It has increased some bureaucracy and created some time-lag, but eventually, it will be streamlined. So all in all, I think there will not be such a big impact on the tyre industry locally,” he said.
According to Satpute, the new norms could end up benefitting the Indian automotive market especially the tyre market even though there is a curb on tyre imports
Satpute says that the company is planning to branch out into manufacturing high-end tyre product for the Indian market- “With our strong connect with luxury carmakers in Europe and in other parts of the world, we are already working with them and designing tyres for the OE (original equipment) fitments there. So it makes sense for us to make those tyres available in India, for the Indian consumers,”
Satpute mentioned, “Our strategy over the last few months has been to increase our focus on what we call ultra-high-performance tyres. And the restriction to imports, to some extent, creates an opportunity. We have continuously upgraded our local manufacturing facility, so we can make more and more of them locally.”
The company considers its current manufacturing footprint to be sufficient for serving the Indian market and has no plans for further expansion in the near-future. “We have been on this investment spree since 2017 and we will continue in phases. We don’t see the need for any new things on top of that,” commented Satpute.
