The aircraft tyre market in India is too small for Michelin, according to a top official of the French tyre major.
Addressing a press conference here, Mr Nicolas Beaumont, President and Managing Director, Michelin India Tamilnadu Tyres Pvt Ltd, noted that Michelin has three aircraft tyres production centres abroad. These plants will cater to the Indian aviation industry.
Michelin is a world leader in aircraft tyres. The technology for aircraft tyres is with just three companies in the world, the other two being Bridgestone and Goodyear.
The Indian market
India has an aircraft fleet of close to 400 commercial planes and about 20 freighters. Today, Boeing revealed its estimate that the country would need 1,320 new aircraft over the next 20 years (valued at $150 billion). Bombardier estimates that India would buy 250 business jets between now and 2018.
Apparently, the Indian tyre industry is keen on entering this segment. “I would love to,” Dr Raghupathi Singhania, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, JK Tyres and Industries, told Business Line on Monday, when asked if the company wished to enter the aviation tyres segment. “But who will give the technology?” he said, noting that none of the three tyre multinationals would ever part with the technology.
Indian aircraft, hence, are destined to wear only foreign footwear.
No licensing tech
Asked if Michelin would mind licensing aircraft tyre technology to an Indian tyre company, Mr Beaumont said, “Michelin never licenses technology.”
Well, therefore, there seems to be no possibility of an aircraft tyre rolling out of the 290-acre tyre factory that the French multinational is putting up at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore, at a site 60 km north of Chennai.
What will roll out from November 2012 are truck radials. Passenger car radials will come later.
Truck tyre biz
Mr Beaumont says that the Indian truck industry is today 14.5 per cent “radialised” but come 2020, every second truck will stand on radial tyres.
Right now, Michelin is busy building the factory.
The first facility that has come up at the site is interestingly a training centre, where today some 350 people are being trained. (This is reminiscent of Daimler, which is putting up a commercial vehicles plant near Chennai—the company started with a test track.)
Michelin promises performance and demands a premium for its tyres. “We position ourselves a little higher than the competition,” because of the superior quality, Mr Beaumont said.