Tyre Asia April/May 2018 73
In the coming decade, what are the
segments where you see a still higher
growth coming in? Do you think electric
vehicles will create an altogether new
segment that would see unprecedented
market development?
From the India perspective, the entire automotive space
has done well. While some of the product categories are
cyclical, commercial vehicles and off-highway tyres are on
an upward surge. In the consumer segment, both two-
wheeler and passenger vehicle tyres continue to do well
in the last decade or so. With the increase in spending
power, the consumer categories will hold its growth
momentum in the next decade as well.
As the move towards Electric and Hybrid Vehicles gathers
steam, they will soon find a meaningful share in every
market. One should not take the EVs and HEVs lightly,
while product planning for the future.
Retailing innovation
You have taken innovative decisions in
developing retailing setups that allow
better customer experience. Do you plan
to further enlarge such business models
to engage with customers?
Absolutely. Modern retail is the key to attracting
customers, engaging with them and helping them take an
informed tyre purchase decision. Given the shape, size,
location, category and other variables, we will continue
with our offering of a range of modern retail solutions –
Super Zone, Zone, Point, Corner and on the similar lines,
different variations to extend our rural outreach.
You make high quality products. How
do you compete with low cost tyres of
questionable quality that still flood the
market? How do you engage and educate
consumers on this issue which has
implications for personal safety?
As you have rightly mentioned, we make high quality
products; and these high quality products speak for
themselves. Our product offerings in different categories
have their own pull in the market. Customers, who opt for
low quality tyres, will do that only once, before returning
to better quality products being offered by brands like us.
We have our teams in place, which interact and engage
with customers to educate them about the perils of low
quality products, and how it can risk their and others’
lives.
W
ith connected vehicles, the tyres are
also becoming intelligent, as they
now contain more and more enabling
technologies within its structure. We are
also witnessing the shift of consumer
preference towards SUVs and 4x4 vehicles
from the past few years