CEAT to triple market share by March 2007

New Delhi, Aug 25 (UNI) In a bid to cater to the growing demand in the three-wheeler segment, leading tyre manufacturer CEAT today said it plans to triple its market share to 20 per cent by March next year from the current 5 per cent.

''With an existing portfolio of high performance products and a renewed focus on this segment, CEAT sees great potential in increasing their market share in this segment, by-passing the challenges that include stiff competition from local tyre manufacturers selling low performance products at economical prices,'' CEAT General Manager (Marketing) Rajiv Jain said.

The company sees the Indian auto rickshaw challenge as a great platform for CEAT to contribute to the three-wheeler market in India, Mr Jain said adding that India is the world's largest manufacturer and seller of three-wheelers.

Recently, CEAT has added to its three-wheeler product portfolio, ANMOL - a tyre for the goods segment, which has received a good response.

The exponential growth for three-wheeler industry in the country has resulted from the shortage of personal and mass commute transport, easy maneuverability on narrow and crowded roads and low operation costs.

As per Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) CAGR for three-wheeler vehicle production has been 14 per cent for the past four years.

In 2005-06 the automotive industry produced 4,34,424 three wheelers as compared to 3,74,445 in 2004-05.

The increasing population of three wheelers has given rise to a boom in the tyre replacement market. The demand for passenger segment three-wheeler tyres is around 1,50,000 per month while that of goods segment tyres is around 1,25,000 tyres per month.

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