Goodyear rolls out Excellence tyres for Indian roads

New Delhi, Oct 10: Citing a rise in the number of millionaires in the country, tyre maker Goodyear India today rolled out its new range of tyres 'Excellence' for the premium car segment in India.

The company will initially import the tyres from China but might consider manufacturing the product in India, after observing the demand and volumes consumed by the domestic market.

''We will import the premium car tyres from China but depending on the volumes and the demand, we could be making the product in India at our manufacturing facility at Aurangabad,'' Goodyear India CMD Antonio Capellini told reporters here.

However, the company CMD did not reveal the volume to be exported from China.

Targeting the corporate executives aged between 35-65 years, the product will initially cater to the luxury passanger car owners in metros like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and mini metros, he said.

Excellence tyres come with a three-zone technology which promise driving in three zones -- performance, comfort and security -- and have been tested in wet and dry conditions before the launch.

The series will be available for most luxury car models including Hyundai Sonata, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Skoda Octavia, Mercedes E,C and S Class and Audi A4, A6 and TT among others and will come in 10 sizes at a price range between Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000.

''A plethora of brands will be launched in the luxury car segment in India by major auto players, thus we see the demand only going upwards for our new product. Consumers today are willing to spend on luxury,'' Goodyear India Sales and Marketing Director India Krishna Mahesh said.

He opined that the Rs 9 lakh plus cars will witness a growth of 9 per cent in 2006 and will rise to 14.9 per cent in 2007.

The company has already launched Excellence in China, Taiwan, Philipines and Thailand.

UNI