JK Tyre well-known home-grown tyre maker is looking to clock $2.5 billion annual turnover by early next decade. Being one of the leaders in truck and bus radials in the country, the company is now taking rapid strides to feature among the top 12 to 15 tyre manufacturers in the world by 2020.
In a freewheeling conversation with MOTORINDIA, Mr. Vivek Kamra, President, JK Tyre and Industries Ltd., stated: “Over the next three to five years, we aim to figure among the top 12-15 tyre companies in the world. By that time, our topline will also more than double to $2.5 billion. Given our size and scale, we would be present everywhere whether it is PV, CV, OTR, Farm Equipment and now two-wheelers. Once that happens, we are hopeful of producing 50 million tyres per annum. We look forward to be the number one radial tyre company in India for sure.”
Having a worldwide customer base in over 80+ countries across all 6 continents, JK Tyres currently churns out 35 million tyres across its 12 plants (9 domestic & 3 international) per annum. It derives 80-85 per cent of its business from the domestic market with the balance 15-20 per cent generated from exports.
Talking about the company’s mid-term plans, he noted: “We would be supplying to a couple of new export markets in our bid to understand where the technology (in tyres) is going and also gauge the expectations of customers across the world. So that is one area where we will quickly accelerate our learnings which will enable us to grow domestically and internationally.”
Shedding some light on its overseas business, Mr. Kamra maintained: “We have started addressing key potential markets for the aftermarket in the US, Turkey and Spain in Europe. Besides, we are also looking to get into Russian market. We are also looking to gain a foothold in Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, etc. We are trying to get resurgence in Latin American markets like Brazil, which is badly affected by recession. We are also going back with CV tyres in Australia for big cars and Truck.”
Talking about its product portfolio, Mr. Kamra affirmed: “We are sharpening our product capabilities in all the segments. We are also testing tubeless tyres for two-wheelers. We would be increasing our presence in OTR, construction and farm equipment vehicles. After establishing our presence in TBR, we are now o sharpening our focus on tubeless bus tyres. We have improved the (existing range of) tyres substantially in terms of changing its compound, construction, tread pattern, etc.”
Talking about the technological breakthroughs that JK will be working on, Mr. Kamra revealed: “When it comes to next generation technology, we are betting big on tubeless super singles, which is essentially a large tubeless tyre replacing two tyres fitted at the back of a large truck. We have developed these super singles for the US market and will also be supplying to Australia. Once the Indian roads become world-class, we can introduce it here too.”