JK Tyre & Industries Ltd on February 20 announced the launch of two new sports utility vehicles SUV tyres ― Ranger HPe for electric cars, and Ranger X-AT tyres tailormade for off-roaders. Both these tyre ranges have been initially launched in Delhi and neighbouring regions to cater to the aftermarket.
As per the company’s terminology, Ranger X-AT stands for ‘extreme all-terrain’ and is tailormade for SUVs, such as Tata Safari, Toyota Fortuner and Mahindra Scorpio N. The Ranger HPE, which stands for ‘high-performance electric’, is made for electric vehicles (EVs), such as Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV400 and MG ZS EV. Developed with the XPolymer3 technology, the company claims that the EV-specific tyre is the safest, most durable, and fuel-efficient tyre for the Indian roads. The superior grip and handling with reduced noise even at high speeds gives the customers an enhanced driving experience, the company claims.
Anuj Kathuria, President (India), JK Tyre & Industries, said, “The launch of Ranger HPe and Ranger X-AT in the region will offer an elevated experience to SUV owners and augment our presence in this rapidly growing segment.”
He also revealed that the company is holding discussions with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for the Ranger X-AT tyres.
Kathuria said the company currently sells around 50 types of tyres (Stock Keeping Units) in the aftermarket for SUVs. He noted that the company will keep rolling out new products in line with the growth of the segment.
“On an annual basis, we invest around Rs 100 crore in R&D with focus on emerging segments and technologies,” Kathuria added.
The Delhi-based tyremaker stated that it continues to work with many OEMs in the EV space and has already developed a specific product for the bus segment and has been supplying to JBM Auto. “We are a single-source supplier to JBM Auto. We are also supplying to Olectra. We are inking deals with Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland. In two-wheelers, we are talking to Bajaj and Hero MotoCorp,” Srinivasu Allaphan, Director-Sales & Marketing, JK Tyre, said.
On a query regarding the capex for the next fiscal, Kathuria said the company had earmarked Rs 1,100 crore a couple of years back for the same.
“While we have already done with the debottlenecking of the manufacturing facilities and are now working on a Rs 560-crore project in the passenger radial tyre segment, we are also working on a Rs 230-crore truck radial project which is on track,” he added.
JK Tyre has nine manufacturing facilities in the country with an installed production capacity of 32 million tyres annually. At the end of the capex plan, the capacity would have gone up by an additional 2 million units per annum. It also has three manufacturing plants in Mexico and currently exports to around 105 countries.
Meanwhile, JK Tyre is looking to expand its retail network across the country by up to 20 per cent over the next 12-18 months. The company expanded its retail presence in North India by opening six outlets spread across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan as part of its plans to improve its presence, especially in smaller towns and rural areas.
“We currently have around 650 brand shops across the country. Over the next 12-18 months we expect a 15-20 per cent addition in (the number of) these outlets as we look to go nearer to the customer,” Kathuria told PTI in an interaction.
(With inputs from PTI)
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