Continental has taken another step towards its expansion plans in India. The manufacturer has announced its entry in to the radial truck tyre market. It will cater to goods, people and construction segments. The company has an annual production capacity of 2,20,00 radial tyres and will be providing its products through their network of 1400 outlets which spread across 70 cities throughout the country.
Continental has introduced the HSR2 steer tyre and the HDR2 drive tyre in the goods segment, coach tyre for the people segment and HSX2 and HDX2 tyres for the construction segment. In order to train its local staff on the new production machines and techniques it bought some of the employees from its international operations and also sent a number of local employees abroad for training.
India is the second largest truck tyre market in Asia-Pacific and Continental has elaborate plans for this country. It has invested heavily in to its facilities here and expects good sales in the expanding truck radial tyre market. Apart from new tyres the company is also targeting the truck tyre replacement market which is seeing rapid radicalization.
Speaking on this, Andreas Esser, head of Commercial Vehicle Tires business, Continental said, “Introducing Continental radial truck tires into the Indian market is a momentous occasion for us. India is the second largest market for truck tires in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) and we strongly believe that our premium technology products, manufactured locally and distributed through our Indian market organization, will make Continental a preferred partner in the tire replacement and original equipment business.”