JK Tyre & Industries is looking to increase direct supply of truck and bus radial tyres to commercial vehicle makers like Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland by three times in the next two years.
The company, which recently increased the production capacity of truck and bus radials to eight lakh units annually, sells only five per cent of it to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), with the rest going to the after sales market.
“In truck and bus radials, our sales to OEMs is only around five per cent of our annual total production. We are now looking to increase the share by three times to 15 per cent within the next two years,’’ the Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Mr R.P. Singhania, told PTI.
He said the rate of radialisation (changing from traditional tyres that use nylon threads to the one that uses steel wire) among truck and bus manufacturers is increasing rapidly and JK Tyre is aiming to tap this market.
“Companies like Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland have increased the use of radials and we are hopeful of tapping the market offered by OEMs,’’ Mr Singhania said.
He said currently in India, the overall radialisation in trucks and buses is only 10 per cent but the figure is going to increase to 25 per cent within the next five years.
Source: The Hindu Business Line
