Yokohama inaugurates first India tire plant

ERJ staff report (TP)

Haryana, India − Yokohama India, a 100 percent subsidiary of Yokohama Rubber, has set up its new tire manufacturing plant in Bahadurgarh (in the northern state of Haryana), reported Punam Chavan for ZigWheels.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Chief Minister, Haryana inaugurated the Rs 300 crore (€35.2m) manufacturing unit at the HSIIDC site (Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited).

Hooda said: “We are glad that Yokohama India chose Bahadurgarh. Of every two cars being manufactured in India, one comes from Haryana. In fact, 70 percent of the total Japanese investments in India are in Haryana.”

The commercial production of the tires will begin in the second-half of 2014. According to Takeshi Fujino, Managing Director, Yokohama India, the production can be scaled up to 8,000 tires per day in the next phases of growth.

The manufacturer says the tires are designed specially keeping the Indian roads in mind. The Yokohama Earth 1 tire comes with a wear and tear control shoulder design, and vertical and horizontal grooves to reduce uneven wear and tear.

Yokohama India has around 600 sales touch points including 22 Yokohama Club Networks (YCN) across the country. YCN is a specialised network based on the company’s global philosophy of providing “a world-class tire buying experience” to its dealers. The firm plans to spread its wings in the country by doubling the number of YCN’s by the end of 2014.

Yokohama currently competes only in the tubeless radial tire market segment − holding a two percent market share in the country. With the new manufacturing unit, which caters to the increasing demand of tubeless tires, it plans to target a five percent market share.

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