Radialisation of CV tyres next major leap forward
India is a land of extreme weather conditions, from tropical heat and monsoon in the South to the bitter cold of the Himalayan North, and from modern superhighways to pothole-plagued one-lane roads.
Tyre development in India now focuses on specific applications, rather than addressing only regional conditions. For example, certain tyres are being developed for one type of mining, whereas the other tyres developed are for varied applications in the mining sector. While passenger tyre radialization virtually is complete in 
India, the truck and bus as well as light commercial vehicle tyre markets have a long way to go.
Radialization in truck and bus and LCVs is the next major leap forward for the tyre industry in India. Today, estimates show only 32 per cent of India’s truck/bus tyre market is radial and 30 per cent of the light commercial vehicles sector.
India’s, and in fact the world’s tyre makers know this, and are investing heavily in the country. The current or recently completed investments in production capacity and related areas are estimated at $4 billion.
This kind of investment by the tyre industry in India is quite unprecedented. Almost all the tyre companies have invested in setting up new facilities, upgrading their existing facilities and adding manufacturing capacity. Besides domestic-based tyre makers such as Apollo Tyres Ltd., MRF Ltd., JK Tyre, Ceat Ltd., TVS Tyres, Balkrishna Industries Ltd., Alliance Tire Group and Birla Tyres Ltd., the oligarchs – Bridgestone Corp., Michelin, Continental and Goodyear – have tyre production in India. Besides, the country is one of the major importers of Chinese tyres.
Estimates show that radialization of the truck and bus sector in the sub-continent will reach 45 per cent by 2016-17, and light commercial vehicles will hit 37 per cent.
There are three types of roads in India – six- or four-lane expressways that connect most of the major cities; two-lane roads between large cities and smaller towns; and sub-standard roads, usually with big potholes, not in very good condition, that account for half the nation’s roads.
A truck going from Delhi to Baroda travelling at high speed on the highway has to necessarily pass through villages that practically don’t have any motorable roads at all. That is the challenge the tyre industry has to face.
Another problem is that silica, used in radials to provide low-rolling resistance, has problems when the tyre is subjected to those Indian temperature extremes of freezing cold to sweltering heat to monsoon-soaked roadways. The problem is durability caused by the high temperature swings.
Industry research and development must improve the durability and retreadability of truck and bus radials, as well as simulation and predictive technologies and faster product cycle times.
Road improvement, particularly the creation of high-speed corridors for freight, is a prerequisite for increased radialization in India. It is a focus of the government’s infrastructure efforts, along with improvement in vehicle technology and emission controls and the availability of quality fuel.
Among the other needs is driver education and training. So, the larger, faster trucks can be driven safely in a nation that is on course to be one of the three largest automotive markets in the world by 2020. Today, 39 tyre companies are operating 60 plants in India. The industry has an annual growth rate of more than 10 per cent and sales of $8.7 billion.
The tyre industry has plenty of domestic and nearby foreign material suppliers. The country is the world’s fourth largest producer of natural rubber, of which 65 per cent is used in tyres, and is second only to China.