Continental launches radial truck tires in India

ERJ staff report (TP)

Hanover, Germany / Modipuram, India – Continental announced it has started production and distribution of radial truck tires in the Indian market.

With an initial annual production capacity of 220,000 radial truck tires, a dealer network of more than 1,400 outlets and sales & customer service teams in more than 70 cities across India, Continental takes the next step in expanding its reach in India after acquiring Indian tire manufacturer Modi in 2011. The official launch event for its radial truck tires will be held on 1 April in New Delhi.

“Introducing Continental radial truck tires into the Indian market is a momentous occasion for us. India is the second largest market for truck tires in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) and we strongly believe that our premium technology products, manufactured locally and distributed through our Indian market organisation, will make Continental a preferred partner in the tire replacement and original equipment business,” said Dr. Andreas Esser, Head of the Commercial Vehicle Tires business.

Continental has “invested heavily” into the construction of a new production building alongside with machinery for making radial tires. Furthermore, it brought experienced staff from some of its other international production sites to India in order to train local staff on the new machinery and production techniques.

Also, more than 100 local employees were sent abroad to the international production sites in Germany, Romania, China and Malaysia for comprehensive training in radial tire production and technology.

Continental said: “The Indian truck tire replacement market has a volume of approximately 14m units per year, out of which almost 4m units are radial tires, whereas the other 10m are bias tires. Over the last five years, the market has not only grown by approximately 24 percent, but has also seen a strong shift towards radial tires. It is expected that radialisation will gain further momentum in the next years.”

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Press release from Continental