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)

Apollo Tyres Ltd has secured a one-season shirt-sleeve sponsorship agreement with AS Monaco, one of French football's most successful clubs, to increase awareness for its premium Vredestein brand.

This partnership will leverage Ligue 1's ranking as the fifth most watched football league in the world to raise awareness of Vredestein's award-winning products among a large audience in France and abroad. On November 22, AS Monaco's home league game against Brest will have the new sleeve branding for the first time. The Vredestein brand will be heavily promoted at Stade Louis-II for the 2024–2025 season, including on player sleeves and LED screens around the field. Exclusive social media initiatives will further help make the brand prominent, reaching a large and interested audience.

Yves Pouliquen, Vice President – Commercial, Europe, Apollo Tyres, said, “This partnership is an exciting opportunity to strengthen Vredestein’s presence in one of our key markets. AS Monaco’s rich history and commitment to excellence mirror our focus on performance and innovation. We look forward to building a successful relationship with the club and celebrating its achievements this season.”

Thibaut Chatelard, Marketing and Revenue Director, AS Monaco, said: “We are delighted to welcome Apollo Tyres and its Vredestein brand to the family of AS Monaco partners. This collaboration makes sense in view of the values we share, such as the constant pursuit of performance and excellence. There’s no doubt that this new support will be precious for the rest of our season, which promises to be thrilling.”

Nexen Tire, a leading global tyre manufacturer, has launched the Nexen N´Blue S tyre, adding to its range of summer tyres and providing drivers with advanced safety, energy efficiency and superior driving stability in wet and dry conditions.

Developed using highly dispersed silica and equipped with an optimised structural design, the Nexen N´Blue S tyre provides reduced road noise and improved driving stability. The tyre features an innovative tread compound, formulated with hydrophilic fillers and microstructure-controlled polymers, and provides lower rolling resistance and exceptional dry and wet grip. The tyre also excelled in test results by demonstrating an 11 percent improvement in wet braking distance compared to its predecessor.

Apart from providing excellent performance, the Nexen  N´Blue S also scores high on the sustainability index. The tyre provides an eco-friendly solution for environmentally conscious drivers by minimising fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The Nexen N´Blue S summer tyre is available in 58 sizes, which makes it compatible with different types of vehicles.

Kumho Tire Vietnam Co., Ltd. is all set to expand its investment project in Binh Duong province of Vietnam, with the phase 3 of expansion commencing in early 2025. This was discussed at a recent meeting between Vo Van Minh, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee (PPC), and Kim Hyun Ho, General Director of Kumho Tire Vietnam Co., Ltd.

The meeting was held on 13 November at the Administrative Centre of Binh Duong province, as per an official statement. Apart from the company’s investment till date and the planned investment for phase 3, the two also discussed about the challenges and obstacles regarding procedures and processes to have more land funds to expand the manufacturing plant, along with taking measures to tackle the obstacles. Kim Hyun Ho also conveyed to the PPC Chairman that Kumho Tire Vietnam Co., Ltd. belongs to South Korea's Kumho Tire Group and is currently ranked 10th in the car tyre manufacturing industry.

The company had invested in a tyre manufacturing plant in My Phuoc 3 Industrial Park in 2007 with a total initial investment of USD 308 million, which was supplemented by another USD 300 million in 2021. This extended the factory scale to six hectares and increased the production capacity to 12.5 million tyres annually. With the expansion in early 2025, the company will raise its total investment to USD 908 million and increase the factory's production capacity to 17 million tyres annually. The expanded capacity is expected to be operational by early 2026.

Yokohama-ATG, a leading manufacturer of all-terrain and off-the-road tyres, has expanded its Galaxy MFS 101 SDS range of forklift tyres with the launch of white, non-marking tyres.

The Galaxy MFS 101 SDS range consists of puncture-proof SDS tyres with extended wear limits designed for high-intensity working shifts and long durability. These are premium, solid rubber tyres developed for tough demands, a long service life and high driving comfort. The addition of white, non-marking tyres is specifically aimed at clean working environments.

Marked by a 3-stage construction process, the forklift tyres feature reduced heat build-up, effective shock absorption and minimised vibrations. The pattern design guarantees a smooth ride and good steerability thanks to its continuous centre lug and circumferential grooves. Furthermore, the flat walls and wide flat profile offer excellent stability when using a forklift for vertical stacking. The tyres are also equipped with anti-slip steel beads for improved rim fitment

In a case study on a CAT 2.5-tonne forklift that was used for handling heavy pallets on asphalt, the Galaxy MFS 101 SDS outshone the competitors with impressive performance. The tyre delivered an approximate 900 working hours before replacement against competitors’ 500 working hours.