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Why Chinese Tyre companies are easy in the Indian TBR tyre market.

Mar 25, 2016

The TBR tyre segment was just 2% of the truck & bus tyre market about 4 years ago, while at present its share stands about 45%. While we talked with an Indian tyre company official, he revealed that Chinese tyre imports surged from an average of 40,000 tyres per month. Just to make it easier for you to understand the numbers: 1, 40,000 tyres is also the approximate capacity of Apollo’s new and largest plant in Chennai. Needless to say instead of Indian tyre companies, it’s the Chinese tyre makers which are making prosperous. How and why? Let’s have a look through some reasons:

Indian tyre companies bet on TBB tyre: Indian tyre companies felt that although the entire world has moved to TBR, Indian market will remain a TBB market for years. They are perhaps banking on Indian roads remaining in poor condition and overloading to be in Indian truckers DNA forever. These are the very conditions where TBB scores well over TBR tyres. However, some unexpected but firm political or official decision led to an accelerated change in consumer preferences. When the Chinese came knocking with TBR tyres in their arsenal, they found Indian tyres companies looking the other way and Indians practically gave walkover to their neighboring competitors.

Not enough TBR capacities in India: Just couples of years ago when TBR constituted only 2% of the Indian truck & bus tyre market. Every tyre company was trying to address the 98% of the market that is TBB market. The capacity expansions also came in TBB segment, which now in hindsight looks like a bad strategic. Although Indian Tyre companies now have some TBR capacities, but as it seems now, it’s not enough to take care of surge in India’s appetite for TBR tyres. When the demand came there were simply no capacities in India. Chinese will step in to fill the space.

TBB tyre


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