JK Tyre to increase capacity at its Chennai, India and Mexico facilities

New Delhi, India – JK Tyre & Industries said it will invest Rs 1,430 crore to ramp up capacity at its Chennai manufacturing facility which makes radial tires for trucks, buses and cars. “We have earmarked capex of Rs 1,430 crore to increase our truck and bus radial capacity by additional eight lakh tire per year and car radial capacity by another 20 lakh tire per year at the Chennai plant,” said JK Tyre & Industries president and director, A.K. Bajoria. Moreover, the company is also spending Rs 140 crore at its Mexican subsidiary Tornel to increase capacity by 18 percent from its present capacity of 3.2 million tires. “In the first phase of expansion in our Mexican subsidiary Tornel, we are investing Rs 140 crore in the next 10 months,” he added. He further added that after ramping up the capacity in the Mexican subsidiary, JK Tyre would introduce Tornel brands in India. The company also launched 10 new products for passenger cars, truck and light commercial vehicles and is now targeting an increase of Rs 300 crore in its turnover. JK Tyre had turnover of Rs 5,444 crore as on March 31 this year. “With the launch of this new range, we are hopeful of increasing our market share in high performance tire segment significantly,” he said. The tires launched also include ultra high performance car tire designed for the premium high end luxury cars as Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Bajoria further added that JK Tyre has also started supplying tires to Volkswagen group from India. “We are going to be their worldwide partner. Wherever they have a plant, we are going to get a slice of that,” he said. The Indian tire market is estimated to be between Rs 46,000-50,000 crore. In the passenger vehicle tire segment, the company has a share between 18-20 percent.