 "Arnab Banerjee, MD & CEO, Ceat")
Tyre maker Ceat is eyeing the top position in the electric vehicle (EV) tyre market within the next two years, a senior company official said.
"We already have a 40 per cent market share with two-wheeler original equipment makers (OEMs) in the electric vehicle space. For passenger vehicles (PVs), we now have a 14-15 per cent share. We aim to continue increasing these shares consistently and aspire to become the market leaders within the next two years," said Arnab Banerjee, managing director and chief executive officer of Ceat.
Banerjee told Business Standard that currently, there is little demand for EV tyres in the replacement market, as the industry is transitioning from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.
Ceat has introduced a new category of EV product ranges: EnergyDrive (Passenger Car), EnergyRide (Two-Wheeler) and WinEnergyX3R (Truck Radial).
Banerjee said that Ceat is focusing on specialty tyres, whether for agricultural use or other segments.
A superior product mix aided the company in posting a revenue and profit increase for the second consecutive quarter this financial year.
Ceat's revenue from operations grew by 5.5 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3053.32 crore. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the revenue grew by 4 per cent. Ebitda margin for the September quarter stood at 15.1 per cent, an expansion of 202 basis points compared to Q1FY24. The company posted a net profit of Rs 207.72 crore for Q2FY24, as opposed to Rs 6.4 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Sequentially, the profit surged 44 per cent.
EVs are becoming an increasingly important segment; 127,935 electric vehicles were sold in September, including PVs, three-wheelers, two-wheelers and commercial vehicles (CVs).
EV tyres differ from those for internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. They have lower rolling resistance and require better traction for initial speed as well as lower moisture levels.
JK Tyres earlier launched low-resistance tyres for EVs. Anuj Kathuria, president (India) at JK Tyre & Industries, told Business Standard that while the industry is focusing on making fuel-efficient engines, tyres can also contribute. "This becomes more relevant as the adoption of EVs grows. In an EV, one can either reduce the dead weight—batteries make up a large part of an EV's weight—or one can overcome rolling resistance," Kathuria said.
Earlier this year, MRF also indicated that they are developing EV tyres with ultra-low rolling resistance, good traction, wear resistance and noise suppression, among other features.
Internationally, companies like Bridgestone recently announced they will make all future tyres suitable for EVs, outlining its strategy to supply the car tyre market during the transition from ICE to electrified powertrains.
