The automotive industry has witnessed a significant increase in the level of tyre awareness among vehicle buyers within a short span of five years. Today, lifespan requirements have risen just under 10 per cent, with tyre customers demanding that their tyres last 51,500 km on the road. This has become possible only with the usage of radial tyres for all vehicle segments. The rate of radialisation is actually an index of the status of road development, vehicle engineering and the economy in general. Notwithstanding the problem areas, constraints and limitations, the tyre companies have kept pace with the technological improvements that radialisation signifies and offer state-of-the-art product (tyres), comparable to the best in the world.
Radialisation can be aptly classified as the most important innovation in tyre technology. Despite its several advantages (additional mileage; fuel saving and improved driving) radialisation in India earlier did not catch up at a pace that was expected, since its introduction way back in 1978. This could be attributed to several factors, viz., Indian roads generally not being suitable for ideal plying of radial tyres, (older) vehicles produced in India not having suitable geometry for fitment of radial tyres (and hence the general and wrong perception that radial tyres are not required for Indian vehicle), unwillingness of the consumer to pay higher price for radial tyres, etc.
However, the situation has radically changed in recent years, especially for the passenger car tyre segment where radialisation has crossed the 98 per cent mark and is expected to reach 100 per cent in two to three years. In the medium and heavy commercial vehical segment the current level of radialisation is upto 18 per cent, and that in the LCV segment is estimated at 20 per cent. Hence there is a great potential remaining untapped.
A few years back, a beginning was made in radialisation of truck, bus and LCV tyres, and this process is gaining momentum.
There has been an increasing level of radialisation in the commercial vehicle segment due to reduced incidence of overloading. According to various reports, the fleet operators opt for usage of more radial tyres which offering ultimate safety as well as better fuel economy over the bias tyres.
The future of radialisation will be governed by factors such as the cost – benefit ratio, road development, overload control, user education and retreading infrastructure.