TVS Srichakra has entered the European market with its new range of Eurogrip two-wheeler tyres which are customised to meet the European rider’s needs. The company has been meticulously moving on its brand building and product launches in the last two years. In 2019, the company had launched its brand TVS Eurogrip with a new logo and new product range, aiming at younger, millennial and aspirational buyers.

To foray into the European market, TVS Srichakra once again has gone through a lot of studies and product testing. The newly launched range of Eurogrip Bee Connect scooter tyres will be available in a basket of 40 different sizes in the coming months in Europe. Decoding the significance of the Eurogrip Bee Connect name, Andrea Bianchi Milella, Marketing Manager of TVS Srichakra’s Italian Centre, said, “It took quite a long process to came to this to this name-Eurogrip Bee Connect. The pandemic has changed everyone’s life, so has mobility. Due to social distancing and safety, public transportation is being avoided in Europe and, two-wheelers, especially scooters, are increasingly preferred by people to connect with each other. Secondly, at TVS Srichakra, we are the forefront runner for creating ecological consciousness in the tyre industry. We did tremendous work on reducing the environmental impact and increasing the usage of renewable energies with this product. With the Eurogrip Bee Connect, we wanted to highlight that we are very conscious about sustainable mobility and which animal could be better than the bees to symbolise this fact. Bees are industrious and hardworking and, most of the time, on the move, but at the same time, they play kind of a crucial role in the wellbeing of nature and humanity itself. So, we wanted also to highlight this side of our involvement in the automotive industry.”

 The company has entered the European market when the pandemic has put a halt on everyone’s life for more than a year. However, P Madhavan, Executive Vice President - Sales & Marketing, TVS Srichakra, backs the timing to enter the European market, saying the strategic move has been taken after much deliberation. Madhavan says, “I will strongly believe in stop, pause and take a breath, and then look at the very reason where you can go from that point onwards. So we use this period to go back and understand the consumer better. We got into the research more and tried to get fresh insights on the consumer so that if there is that nugget of gold as an opportunity available, go pick that up. That was the thought right through.” 

 The Chennai-headquartered company utilised the recent slowdown period for designing, studying the market trends and the riders’ needs in greater details. The new product development went through multiple rounds of prototyping and subsequent tests in its laboratories and racetracks and roads by some independent testers in Europe. 

 Today, the homegrown company is a leading tyre company in the two-wheelers and three-wheeler and OHT tyre space, operating for more than three decades. The company rolls out around three million tyres every month out of its two manufacturing facilities located in Madurai (Tamil Nadu) and Rudrapur (Uttarakhand). 

Eurogrip Bee Connect for riding experience 

In India, two-wheelers are essentially a mode of commuting, whereas as the consumers in Europe, though in smaller numbers, is more discerning and evolved. 

According to Milella, European two-wheeler riders seek a wholesome experience and are choosy on bikes, accessories, and tyres. “European two-wheeler riders want to enjoy the riding experience, which could be any forms - long rides on highways, country roads, sporty rides, off roads or racetracks. The consumer segment in the region we are dealing with is updated and aware of the types of tyres they require for their needs. So, you need to have quite a lot of offers all across the spectrum to cater to each type of riders. I will say it’s quite interesting,” said Milella.

 Currently, the company is working on new products, which will be released in the first quarter of 2022. A knobby product for off-road purposes and a street tyre for medium and big displacement motorcycles, both in Radial and Cross Ply construction, are lined up for launch in the next few months.

TVS Srichakra has installed an entirely new line at its Madurai plant to manufacture the newly launched range. Elaborating further, V Sivaramakrishnan, Chief Technology Officer (R&D Head), said, “Tyres made for the European market require completely different compounds and materials and need to meet the REACH compliance. So, we have a completely new manufacturing plant dedicated for the European product line in Madurai, India, which includes completely new extruders, tyre building machines, and process.”

 At the start, TVS Srichakra is not looking for sales targets in the European market. The priority for the company is to establish the brand, which another mammoth task for any tyre company. TVS Srichakra has already been in Europe with its Eurogrip brand in the Agri tyre space for five years. “We are designing and developing our products as per the market needs and building our brand. We prefer to have more organic growth,” says Madhavan. 

 The company also plans to introduce some of Eurogrip Bee Connect products in India and other markets in upcoming quarters.

 Not only building a brand, but establishing the retail chain in Europe is another challenge. The retail tyre business in the region is much more organised in both online and offline segments, which give much more options to consumers. In Europe, the retail tyre business is being increasingly driven by digital space, and consumers expect solutions from doorstep delivery and fitment to other services instead of just a product. As of now, TVS Srichakra has no plans to acquire any retail chain or distributors in the replacement market in the region. Currently, the company is working with the leading distributors across all European countries- Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands. “With our partners, we will be present at the vast majority of retailer across countries to support our customers,” said Milella. 

 TVS Srichakra’s Italian R&D centre will play a vital role in establishing the company’s base in Europe. It focuses on cutting edge technology development and bringing the knowledge and consumers specific inputs in the region. The Italian centre also brings in testing capabilities, which are available globally. The Indian R&D Centre is oriented towards designing detailing, product industrialisation, working from the arts to parts, compound and material testing. “We look into more synergy in terms of technologies getting developed at our India and Europe R&D centres,” said Sivaramakrishnan.

 The company already has a material science lab in India and mentors from Japan and Italy for the material and compound development process.

 Last fifteen months of the pandemic, TVS Srichakra designed and developed new products for the local market. It launched 11 new products for the replacement market, including eight new high-performance tyre sizes for motorcycles, two for scooters and one new tyre size for electric rickshaws. The tyre sizes were introduced under the Sportorq, Jumbo GT, Conta, Durapro and e-Durapro product series.

 In December 2020, the company also announced its planned capital expenditure of INR 10 billion to ramp up manufacturing in its Madurai and Pantnagar plants. This investment is planned to be made over three years. The investment, when fully made, will result in an increase in two and three-wheeler tyre capacity by 25-30 percent and a doubling of off-highway tyre capacity from current levels. 

 The company also worked on digitalisation heavily as it had anticipated that contactless working would be the order of the day. The digitalisation programme helped TVS Srichakra reach the retailers without having the salesman in the field. “Consumers who realised that the shared mobility was out and they pulled out the two-wheelers for service and changed the tyres and battery. So we saw a huge uptick in numbers thanks to the effort that we put in,” said Madhavan.

 Madhavan anticipates that if the COVID situation gets better and the economy comes back on track, the boost the usage of two-wheelers. “That will augur well for us, and we run into the festival season. So, this is to say, we are not fortune tellers there, but the only thing is if the entire thing gets over the next two, three weeks, and the consumers are allowed to move around that that I believe will be a stepping stone to getting a good festive season.” (TT)

As part of a strategic effort to increase its presence in the region's premium original equipment (OE) market, Kumho Tire has confirmed its plans to establish its first tyre production facility in Europe by 2027.

The company has shortlisted Poland, Serbia and Portugal as possible locations for the plant, which is projected to need an investment of more than KRW1 trillion (USD 705 million). The decision is closely linked to Kumho’s ambition to strengthen its partnerships with European automakers and was revealed by Kumho Tire CEO during the South Korean premiere of Kumho's new Ecsta Sport tyre line.

Kumho has recently secured OE supply contracts with major brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen Group. At the moment, Kumho runs eight tyre production plants in China, Vietnam, South Korea and the US. Its capacity to compete in the premium OE market, however, has come to be perceived as being constrained by the absence of a European production base. Through the benefits of local production, the new facility will improve response to European client requests, save freight costs and shorten delivery times, all of which will strengthen the company's partnerships.

Sentury Tire USA has opened pre-enrolment for its two associate dealer programmes (ADPs), the Delinte HYPERDRIVE Associate Dealer Program and the Landsail Elyte Associate Dealer Program, underscoring the company’s commitment to rewarding dedication and partnership to the Landsail and Delinte brands.

The ADPs, which are customised for each brand and intended to encourage dealers, will formally start on 1 June 2025. Both programmes give dealers access to special benefits, incentives and strong tools to help them expand their businesses. This involves dependable customer service, effective marketing and worthwhile financial incentives to promote dealers' success at every stage.

Beginning in Q3, dealers may earn up to USD three per tyre through the Delinte HYPERDRIVE Associate Dealer Program. Dealers can receive retroactive benefits for purchases completed in Q2 if they register before 1 June. The awards are available for all Delinte PTR, LTR and the new DV3 LMD AS last-mile delivery tyres. For all Landsail PTR and LTR tyres, independent dealers that sign up for the Landsail Elyte Associate Dealer Program can also earn up to USD three per tyre. For customers who sign up by June 1, the new LMD 100 AS last-mile delivery is also eligible for the benefits and will get the same early bird incentive for Q2 2025.

No initial order is necessary. Dealers only need to register to begin making money. According to the monthly programme rewards structure, 48 tyre purchases each month are eligible for a reward of USD one per tyre, 120 tyres are eligible for a reward of USD two per tyre and 240 or more tyres are eligible for a reward of USD three per tyre.

ENSO, a London-based tyre manufacturer engaged in the production of sustainable tyres specially designed for electric vehicles (EVs), has launched its new ENSO Premium range of EV-specific ultra-high-performance (UHP) tyres aimed at drivers of high-performance EVs such as the Tesla Model 3 and Model Y.

Specifically designed for electric passenger vehicles, the ENSO Premium range comes with A/A EU-label ratings for both energy efficiency and wet grip. The tyres are designed to provide safety, increased range and a reduced total cost of ownership. Conventional tyre designs frequently fall short of the special performance needs of electric vehicles, which include greater vehicle weight, regenerative braking and higher torque loads. By lowering tyre wear and rolling resistance, ENSO Premium takes care of these issues.

The company is an authorised provider of replacement tyres for LEVC's electric taxis and has partnered with Uber to install its tyres in high-mileage metropolitan areas. The company now plans to grow throughout Europe and North America, and with ENSO Premium, it is now offering its services to individual EV owners throughout the United Kingdom. According to ENSO, the range offers advantages including longer tyre life and fewer replacements, lower energy usage, fewer charging stops and lower CO₂ emissions and tyre particle pollution.

Gunnlaugur Erlendsson, CEO and Co-Founder, ENSO, said, “We’re plugging a long-standing gap in the tyre market by offering EV drivers a purpose-built, affordable, premium EV tyre alternative that matches the innovation of their EV.”

Kraton Corporation, a leading global sustainable producer of specialty polymers and high-value bio-based products derived from pine wood pulping co-products, has announced a general price hike in North America for its SBS, SIS and HSBC product lines with effect from 1 May 2025.

Following a careful analysis of the effects of recently implemented tariffs, related cost increases and a conclusion that the company cannot independently absorb these repercussions, Kraton is adopting these pricing hikes, according to a company statement. The company further said that it will keep an eye on the scene and reassess these measures promptly in the event that conditions and US import tariffs alter.