25 new products to be launched this fiscal BY G BALACHANDAR
Business Line – July 21, 2023 at 7:29PM | Chennai
TVS Srichakra’s tyre manufacturing unit at Madurai
TVS Srichakra Ltd (referred to as TVS Eurogrip) said it will continue the ‘product-offensive’ strategy covering all categories, including super bike and electric two-wheeler tyre segments, as the leading manufacturer of two-wheeler and off-highway tyres has products ready for 90 per cent (in terms of size and product categories) of the two-wheeler tyre market in the world.
The company grew at a CAGR of about 15 per cent between FY20 and FY23 in the replacement category of the two-wheeler tyre market, while the overall two-wheeler tyre replacement market grew at a CAGR of five per cent during the period.
In FY23, 1.59 crore two-wheelers/three-wheelers were sold in the country. It means 3.2 crore new tyres were launched, and these will come for replacement in the next two years.
Product launches
The past 2-3 years saw TVS Srichakra doing record product launches. It launched about 48 new products in the past 36 months. “We have the largest range of steel belt radial tyres. This year, 25 new products will be launched. There are about 12 rim sizes. We are now present in all these sizes, up from 8 rim sizes four years ago,” said P Madhavan, Executive Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, TVS Srichakra Ltd, said at the company’s factory in Madurai.
A significant ramp-up of its R&D operations helped the company enter new segments and roll out a wide range of products to cover all product segments.
“As a pioneer in two-wheeler tyres, we now have 90 per cent of the world’s two-wheeler tyre population covered in size and product availability. We offer tyres for two-wheelers, starting from 50cc bikes to all the way going up to 1400 cc,” said V Sivaramakrishnan, Chief Technology Officer, TVS Srichakra.
“The R&D team now develops 200 products a year in both two-wheeler and off-highway segments, up from 70-80 products 5 years ago,” he added.
The company also entered the super premium bike and adventure touring tyre segments, with new products in Roadhound range a few months ago. As premiumisation gathers pace in the motorcycle market, there is an increasing demand for premium bike tyres in India. It also enhanced the portfolio with 14 SKUs, including seven in new patterns such as Terrabite, Beamer, and Duratrail. Roadhound range is available for super bikes in the range of 660cc and above.
These high-end bike tyres were designed by its R&D team in Europe, and built to suit Indian road conditions. Many of these products have already been launched internationally, and initial feedback from trade and consumers have been positive. Encouraged by the same, these products are now made available in India.
Being an early mover in the electric two-wheeler segment, TVS Srichakra hopes to grow in the electric two-wheeler tyre market. While it has already rolled out tyres with low rolling resistance for electric two-wheelers in the replacement market, it has secured approvals from 17 E2W OEMs to supply EV tyres.
(This correspondent was in Madurai at the invitation of the company)
