100th edition of CEAT PRO held
Indian tyre major CEAT achieved a major milestone with the recently held 100th edition of CEAT PRO, a knowledge series for fleet owners in the Indian transport industry aimed at introducing a more professional and smarter approach in the sector. A unique initiative in itself, CEAT PRO provides an interactive platform for fleet owners to discuss the best practices and ideas across diverse areas of the trucking sector. The event includes seminars and discussions conducted by top industry experts who share their views on the upcoming trends in the industry for the benefit of transporters. The event which was first held in Mumbai has travelled from Himachal Pradesh in the North to Tamil Nadu in the South, from Gujarat in the West to Bihar in the East covering all major cities and towns across the country.
Truck owners learn ways to reduce costs, improve revenues and stay updated on the best practices followed across the globe. Over 7,000 transporters have benefited from such initiatives conducted in 64 cities till date. Though a CEAT initiative, the event is purely focused on enriching the transport community, without undue focus on the CEAT brand and its products. Through such an approach, CEAT has gained excellent response for the movement with transporters keen on expressing views and sharing thoughts at the open forum. Many customers have benefited from the sessions, being able to adopt better strategies, products and technologies as an outcome of the discussions.
The 100th edition of CEAT PRO held on the eve of Independence Day in Mumbai was an achievement to testify to the event’s popularity and efficacy among transporters. The event had many of the reputed names in the transport industry in attendance as CEAT continued its unprecedented efforts in bettering the businesses and lives of its fleet customers.
Mr. Adarsh Kumar, Executive Vice President, Head – Commercial Vehicle & Passenger Car Business, Tata Motors Finance, was one of the key speakers at the event. Mr. Nihar Banerjee, Senior Manager (Sales) Western Region, Tide Water Oil, and Mr. Amit Jain, Managing Director, Technopurple, were the other guest speakers. They highlighted the latest developments in their respective fields providing some interesting insights for the audience to consider and ponder upon. The ‘Transporters’ Book of Excellence’ profiling a number of leading transporters from across the country was launched at the event, followed by presentation of awards to the key guests of the event.
In a casual chat with MOTORINDIA on the occasion, Mr. Arnab Banerjee, Executive Director – Operations, CEAT, shared insights on the company’s performance, strategy and key focus areas. Says Mr. Banerjee: “We are becoming more balanced between the truck and non-truck segments with nearly equal sales in both. The company is doing well inspite of the sluggish market situation across segments. In the domestic market, we hold a strong market share in the two-wheeler, small commercial vehicle and utility vehicle segments and are maintaining our position in the truck segment despite the market slowdown. Our farm tractor segment also has been performing well, while on the export front, our truck tyres are having very good demand from markets like the Middle East and Africa.”
CEAT and the other Indian tyre manufacturers have their task cut out with leading global brands entering India with an eye on the vast market potential. Radialization is a common phenomenon in developed markets, whereas penetration of radial tyres in trucks is only around 23 per cent in India. This offers a huge growth opportunity for tyre makers. While global players are keen on penetrating the Indian market, home-grown tyre makers hold an edge when it comes to understanding the requirements of customers.
Expressing his views on how CEAT is preparing for competition from global players, he says: “India is a market which we know better when it comes to sales and distribution. We have been investing heavily in R&D, improving our product design by enhancing the quality of the compounds and mixtures, developing infrastructure and honing our in-house testing skills. We are working towards making specific products for our OEM customers and also for different export markets.”
CEAT has leveraged on the good demand for its tyres in overseas markets by opening sales offices in many countries which are manned by local human resource from the region. While its revenue from exports crossed Rs. 1,100 crores in FY13, the company caters to all leading CV manufacturers in the Indian market with its domestic OEM business across all segments clocking nearly Rs. 100 crores per month.
CEAT has around 3,000 dealers which gives it widespread reach in both urban and rural parts of the country. The impressive cost per km (CPKM) of its products is its main driving point, as it continues working on further improving the CPKM to even better levels.
Mr. Banerjee’s remarks on the CEAT PRO initiative fittingly sums up the company’s focus and long-term commitment on giving back to the transport industry: “CEAT PRO is a ‘thought leadership’ kind of platform. It is a forum where we understand the pain points of customers and provide appropriate solutions through discussions. When we started the CEAT PRO initiative, we did not think about reaching this milestone (100th edition). We are delighted with this landmark and thank all our partners who have made this possible. We look forward to the 1000th CEAT PRO in future and will work towards it.”