JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. has opened its state-of-the-art JK Tyre Truck Wheels Centre at NH-8, Rewari, Haryana. Jalan Transolutions India Ltd. is the 15th truck wheel showroom of the company in the country and the first in the NCR region.
The new showroom is strategically located on the national highway and covers an area of 25,000 sq.ft. Equipped with nitrogen inflator machine, air compressors, greasing pumps, pneumatic wrenches and a generator set to ensure end-to-end truck and bus tyre care, the centre fully reflects the company commitment to provide world-class customer care in terms of tyre care solutions.
Inaugurating the showroom, Mr. Vikram Malhotra, Marketing Director, JK Tyre & Industries, said: “JK Tyre is the pioneer of radials in the country and is committed towards bringing the best of products and services. This initiative is another step in providing one-stop tyre-related services to the customers. With radialisation picking up fast, JK Tyre, as the pioneer and market leader, has been striving to provide complete tyre solution to its customers. Rewari-Dharuhera has its own importance for the trucking business and the region is getting radialised quickly. We believe that the centre will be a huge success.”
Mr. Malhotra added: “Offering world class products and assurance to our customers is paramount to our business. With the launch of the new truck wheels showroom in the region, we are getting one step closer to our customers. It will enable us to better understand our customers in Haryana and their needs.”
JDH3 will be a game-changer – Vikram Malhotra
How has the business been at JK Tyre? Are you witnessing the automobile market reviving?
I would say that there is positive sentiment in the market, upswing in fundamentals; softening of diesel prices and increase in cash flow. The policy reforms by the Government have instilled optimism among the manufacturers. We, at JK Tyre, are confident of the future growth as we continue to follow our business plans aggressively in the coming months. In the meantime, we have to understand that growth in our industry depends a lot on the country’s infrastructure and mining activities. So, we expect steady growth over a long period. For instance, the ordinance route that the government has taken for coal mines auction may be a precursor of positive things to come. But we will have to wait till there is some on-ground activity that will actually help the markets revive.
And when do you expect the domestic CV industry witnessing a rebound?
A safe guess would be the second half of 2015 when the steps taken by the Government start showing impact, economic activity increases which will eventually affect the CV industry.
Despite the ongoing market downturn, JK Tyre has been able to sustain its growth momentum. Please can you cite reasons?
As far as sales are concerned, we have been always close to our customers and we continue to be the market leader in the TBR segment. This is largely because of our strong customer relationship management programs. Moreover, we have brought in a slew of value for money products last year. Our continued efforts to reduce cost of ownership have helped us bring gain affinity of our customers.
As far as car radials are concerned, we have expanded our production and tied up with new OEs like Honda and strengthen our existing OE partnerships like with Maruti. These have all augured well for us. In the replacement market too, we have launched many new products. So our focus has been on offering value for money products backed by superior quality services. Continued raw material costs and effective utilization of our TBR capacities are some other factors that helped us to sustain.
So which products are you betting big on in your future course of action?
We have recently launched an iconic product called JDH3. Some of the key features of this product are higher mileage and retreadability. With speed of the vehicles going up and the roads improving (in our country), the customer is looking for a higher lifespan of the products rather than initial tyre life. JDH3 is capable of multiple retreads, that makes it very cost effective. We have also lined up some tubeless tyres, a segment where we have always had good presence. We will continue to focus on exports and bringing new technology for our consumers.
What has been the growth of radialization in the CV segment? And how do you plain to hold on to your market share for that?
The rate of radialization will be around 32 per cent this year as compared to 25 to 26 per cent last year. By 2017-18, we should cross 60 per cent radialization. We look forward to retaining our market share by being closer to our OEMs and develop products as per their needs. We are also working on new products for the replacement market.
Do new entrants from other countries make you more proactive now?
Being a major tyre manufacturer, we know the Indian customer and his needs that helps us in communicating better with him. Furthermore, we have been able to be ahead of the technology curve which gives us an edge. Our customers pay for not only the quality but also the value addition that we offer. So our mantra has been to provide good quality products backed by excellent services.
Tell us about your presence in the tyre aftermarket? How have you been able to stay ahead of others?
Firstly, we have started the concept of ‘Truck Wheel’ outlets and are ramping up our distribution count on a monthly basis. This adds service to the customers and enhances the life of the product. We have also introduced ‘Steel Wheel’ for our passenger car tyres. We are in the process of implementing substantial increase in our capacities at Chennai plant where we are expanding TBR capacity from four lakh tyres per annum to 12 lakh tyres per annum and Passenger Radial capacity from 25 lakh tyres per annum to 45 lakh tyres per annum at a total outlay of Rs. 1,430 crores.
Moreover, we are making our field force more efficient and are looking at servicing the dealers better. Finally, we are also offering value added services like a Toll Free Number to improve after-sales experience for our consumers.
You are partnering Tata Motors for T1 Prima Championship for this year as well. Have you developed any special tyres this time around?
Yes, we have. Our new tyres are now equipped to run on higher speeds. So the speed rating has increased and there have been more technical advancements. Our tyres received positive feedback from the drivers and were said to be at par with the ones used in international races.