Conti enters Indian truck sector through deal with Modi

ERJ staff report (DS)

Hanover, Germany -- Continental's Commercial Vehicle Tires division has revived the cross-ply truck tyre collaboration with Modi that began in 1974 and may extend it further. The latest agreement gives Conti access to the Indian market where around 12 million commercial vehicle tyres are consumed annually and growth rates of around 7 percent have been forecast. Modi will produce over one million cross-ply tyres for trucks under the Continental brand. Production already began at the start of June 2009.

The agreements include a technical cooperation agreement and a license agreement for Continental brand cross-ply tyres. The tyres will be distributed via the revived Modi sales network. Cross-ply tyre technology still accounts for over 90 percent of the Indian market. Modern radial technology will remain of secondary importance for the replacement market for a while to come. “For us, this new agreement represents an extremely useful revival of our activities in India, a market, which we know will grow significantly over the coming years,” explains Continental project manager Christian Sass.

The collaboration between Continental and Modi dates back to 1974 when an extensive technical cooperation was agreed on for the set-up of a new Modi tyre plant in Modipuram, Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Modi temporarily stopped production of bias tires in 2001 and only started to reactivate the tyre plant two years ago. New contacts were formed between Continental and Modi and the previous arrangements were revived in the subsequent agreements. Further collaboration possibilities are currently being looked into.

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Press releases from Conti