TI Cycles eyes Rs 60 crore exports

Chennai-based TI Cycles of India, part of the Rs 5,200-crore Murugappa Group, expects its export turnover to touch Rs 60 crore during the current financial year.

The company is also currently in the process of increasing the production capacity of its Noida plant.

"The company is currently focusing on exports, which was restarted from the previous financial year," Mohit Khattar, vice-president (sales and marketing), TI Cycles of India, who was in the city for the inauguration of the BSA National Track Cycling Championships-2004 told Business Standard.

TI Cycles expects the export turnover to touch Rs 60 crore during the current financial year from the minuscule amount that it earned for the last fiscal.

"We are currently exporting our cycles to countries in the Saarc region, the Middle East and to some African countries. The company is also exploring the possibility of entering the European market but it is too early to say by when we would be launching our range there," Khattar said.

The production capability of the Noida plant would be in creased from the present six lakh cycles per year to nine lakh cycles. "The expansion is going on and is expected to be completed in the next three to four months.

The company is taking up the expansion to cater to the increasing demand of cycles from customers in the northern part of the country who account for nearly 16 per cent of the total production of the company," Khattar said.

Apart from the Noida facility, the company has two other plants located at Chennai and Nasik with a total production capability of three million cycles per year.

The company plans to introduce 20 new models across its range in the coming six months. "We have recently introduced a new model of the Hercules MTB (mountain terrain bike) Turbo Drive which is more stylish and has some added features. We have also introduced new models in the BSA cycles for kids," he said.

The company is also looking at increasing the number of dealers in the country from the present 2,300 to around 2,600 by the end of the current financial year. "The increase in the number of dealers would mainly be in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Bihar where our network is not so strong," he said.

TI Cycles for the last financial year recorded a turnover of Rs 470 crore and according to Khattar this is expected to go up by around 10 per cent during the current financial year. "The company also expects its market share to increase by around 3 per cent from the present 30 per cent during the current financial year," he said.

Khattar said that though the industry had shown a slum during the first half of the current financial year, the company's retail sales showed a seven per cent growth.

The company recently had entered into tie up with the Cycling Federation of India (CFI) to promote cycling as a healthy sport. The tie up will see TI Cycles being the sponsors for all the national cycling events that the CFI would be hosting in the next three years.

"We would be sponsoring the five main national events and also the other events that the CFI would host in the next three years. The deal will approximately cost the company Rs 2 crore during the period," he said.

In the state the company has 245 dealers with a market share of around 45 per cent. "We do not have any plans of increasing the number of dealers in the state for the moment as we are doing well here," Khattar said.