The Indian tyre market may become more competitive in 2008-09. The State-run MMTC Ltd has finalised plans to market Chinese truck-bus tyres in India. The imports including both cross-ply and radial tyres are expected to begin as early as April. Plans for import of raw material for the tyre manufacturing sector are, however, yet to be firmed up.

Set to emerge as the first major outfit to start importing tyres in India, the Rs 23,000 crore MMTC is planning to grab 15-20 per cent share of the 1.2 lakh import market for bus tyres in the country.

Apart from directly marketing to large fleet-owners including the State transport corporations, MMTC is also setting up its own dealer network for retail sales.

Dealer network

“We have decided to go ahead with the proposed marketing of Chinese tyres in India. We are in the process of selecting the suppliers. Meetings will shortly be held with the dealers and large customers. We expect to begin imports in April, 2008,” a company source told Business Line.

On whether MMTC would also propose OE supplies to Indian automakers, the source said that there was no such plan at the moment. “We are targeting the major fleet-owners including the State transport corporations and PSUs for direct sales,” he added.

Product range

On the product range to be offered, the official said: “We intend to market a bouquet of brands ensuring consistent quality in various price segments”.

Imports, primarily from China, account for 13-14 per cent of the domestic truck bus tyre market. According to sources, while the monthly imports have increased from approximately 85,000 to 1.2 lakh-1.4 lakh during last seven to eight months, the share of cross-ply tyres (in the total imports) have come down to less than 30 per cent following imposition of anti-dumping duty beginning July 2007.
Consolidation

According to sources in tyre dealer fraternity, despite its increasing market share the tyre import trade was so far dominated by 35-odd smaller players. The entry of MMTC will therefore help consolidation of the trade and may establish it as an important industry lobby.

source:thehindubusinessline.com