INTRODUCTION With the auto industry facing a slow down, the tyre industry is forced to go on a slow track. The situation is tougher because tyre can be easily imported now and the multinational majors are importing their brands. The India tyre industry has gone through a gamut of changes in the last few years. Delicensing over capacity build up, changing market shares, changing ownership patterns, fluctuating input prices, changing technology, entry of global major. The industry has seen all. The cheqeured domestic tyre industry seems to have entered the era of reorganisation and realignment and the long feared gradual shake out process has finally dawnedin. The line with global trends not only are the weaker players being eliminated but industry has, at last, begun it’s race forwards radials. Evolution The 76 years of Indian tyre history is replete with the carriage of monarchs. Roots of the tyre industry can be traced to the early 1920’s when three MNC’s – Firestone, Goodyear and Dunlop commenced their operations in India. Till the sixties, the dominance of the three MNC’s continued. It was during the period 1960-75 some of the Indian players - APOLLO TYRES., M.R.F., Premier entered the ray only to face some hostile competition from the existing players which used their clout to get 1 permission for additional capacities ensuring that the new entrants would barely achieve 35 to 40 per cent capacity utilization. Now in India there are 40 tyre companies with 53 tyre factories. Out of these 40 tyre companies, 12 major companies account for over 85% of total production. Out of the total production 30% of the tyres are exported to the United States. 20% of truck and bus tyres are exported. “The Automotive Tyre Manufactures Associations” (ATMA) was formed under the companies act of 1975. All the leading tyre companies in India are members of ATMA. Members of ATMA 1. Apollo Tyres 2. Birla Tyres 3. Modistone Ltd. 4. Ceat Ltd. 5. APOLLO TYRES. Tyres Ltd. 6. Modi Rubber Ltd. 7. Dunlop India Ltd. 8. M.R.F. Ltd. 9. Falcon Tyres Ltd. 10. Goodyear India Ltd. 2 11. Premier Tyres Ltd. 12. Vikrant Tyres Ltd. Indian Tyre Technical Advisory Committee (ITTAC) was established in 1966 by ATMA. It’ role is to evolve industry consensus on specific parameters for tyres, tubes and related items / valves. FACT’S OF TYRE INDUSTRY: Industry turn over Rs. 1,00,000 million Installed capacity Rs. 5,730 million no. Production Rs. 4,140 million no. Capacity utilisation 72% Taxes and duties paid Rs. 28,500 million Excise duty contribution Rs. 12,530 million 3 Market Segmentation The tyre industry is divided into three segments. i. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMS). ii. Replacement market. iii. Export market. ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURES (OEMS) The tyre demand from the OE segment is a function of automobile production. If the production of automobiles decrease or increase the demand of tyre in this segment will decrease as increase accordingly. It is directly proportionate to the production of automobiles. Margins are lower is this business and suppliers concentrate on volumes to spread out overheads. REPLACEMENT MARKET The demand for this market flows from the vehicles sold in the earlier years. It is the largest segment for more than estimated 61.4% of the over all market. The economic-cum-industrial growth is the other key of demand determinant. The margins are better in this segment as prices are 10-15% more. The replacement segment is lucrative segment as the realizations are estimated to the replacement segment is the reason for it’s number uno position in the vehicular population during 4 the last three years augurs well for the replacement rates old vehicles, poor road conditions and the problems of over leading of vehicles assures a healthy demand for the replacement segment. EXPORT MARKET The tyre exports shot up phenomenally in the early nineties to compensate for the OEM segment but the growth rates have flattered during the last years, awing to strong domestic demand. Nearly whole of the Indian market exports are of cross plys. Cross ply tyres have excellent acceptance in developed countries. Truck and bus tyres accounts around 72.5% followed by LCV’s with 17.6%. The main target is the large replacement market for older crass ply tyres is the main target. Features of Tyre Industry i. HIGH CAPACITY A tyre industry has a very high capacity cost. It is a capital intensive industry. Advanced and expensive machinery has to be used for the manufacturing of tyres. Due to many leady tyre companies lot of marketing investment is also required. 5 ii. DISTRIBUTION NETWORK A tyre industry needs a very big distribution network to survive in such a competitive market. If the demand of consumers are not meet i.e. if there is no proper channel of distribution then the supply will be affected. iii. TECHNOLOGY INTENSIVE A tyre industry has to be technology intensive. It has to manufacture different types of tyres with least carbon and silica as possible so that there will be very less pollution. DEMAND AND DETERMINANTS OF TYRE INDUSTRY 1. GENERAL ECONOMIC & SCENARIO G.D.P. decides the purchasing power of the people and investments by industries. 2. FLUCTUATIONS OF RAW MATERIALS Availability of raw materials decide the increase or decrease in manufacturing. 3. AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY The growth of the automobile industry will lead to the growth of tyres too and vice-versa. 6 4. RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF ROAD TRANSPORT The government is now laying a lot of emphasis in the growth of the rail, this may affect the road transport. 5. RETREADING Retreading is now heavily affecting the tyre industry as retreading of old tyres is much more cheaper than buying new tyres. 6. RADIALISATION Due to radialisation the tyre industry has gained a lot. 7 In the past decade, the sport of tennis has gradually but surely ensconced itself in the Indian social milieu. This does not come as a surprise considering the success of former Indian tennis legends like Vijay Amritraj, Ramanathan and Ramesh Krishnan. In recent times, tennis’s popularity has risen to new heights following the popularity of players like Leader Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza in the Indian and international arena. Their achievements have both inspired the youth as well as establish tennis as a popular sport which has the potential to unearth fresh talent. But to keep this blaze of glory alive, India needs younger, fitter talent who can don the mantle passed down from the former and current players to create history. This is a challenging task. New talent needs to be discovered, nurtured and trained to perfection; and of course, backed by dedicated resources in the form of people, time, money and appropriate training facilities and regime. Apollo Tyres Ltd believes in the philosophy of excellence through teamwork and undertaking activities that enhance stakeholder value. When Apollo Tyres decided to dedicate resources to create Indian sporting champions, tennis somehow picked itself as a natural choice. 8 Apollo Tyres is a rapidly growing company making a mark in the global arena. Tennis is a global sport and is played in over 200 countries Tennis transcends barriers of age, gender, religion and culture. It’s a game which is getting more dynamic and younger by the day Like tyres, tennis is about precision, power, performance, agility, ambition, mastery and style India has a history of excellence in tennis and the corporate was positive that with the right environment, true tennis talent could be allowed to flower and bring home a Singles Grand Slam title The result was Apollo Tyres Mission 2018 – to give India a Singles Grand Slam Champion by the year 2018. Mission 2018 provides youngsters with a platform where they are groomed and given a chance to showcase their talent. The corporate also aims to spread awareness and establish tennis as a sport at the grassroots level; encouraging talented and gifted children to embrace the sport. 9 Apollo Tyres Mission 2018 Batch 2008 has already commenced training at The Tennis Village, Bangalore. The Tennis Village boasts of state-of-the-art training facilities along with some of the world’s best mentors and coaches. Mahesh Bhupathi: Padmashree recipient in 2001. He has over 10 Grand Slam titles to his credit – an Indian record. In 1999, Bhupathi won three doubles titles with Leander Paes including Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He and Paes became the first doubles team to reach the finals of all four Grand Slams, the first time such a feat has been achieved in the Open era. In the April of 1999, they became the World No 1 doubles team. C G K Bhupathi: Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi’s first coach, Mr Bhupathi has a knack for identifying talent and nurturing them to become world beaters. Having been involved with the sport both as a player and a coach, he is perhaps India’s most experienced tennis talent scout. He is the Chief Coach and Director of The Tennis Village and personally involves himself with the development of the FIST programme and each of the prodigies. Prahlad Srinath: One of India’s top coaches and former Indian #1 and Davis Cupper. Prahlad Srinath is currently Chief Coach for the FIST training programme. Sandeep Kirtane: The current Indian Davis Cup coach, Arjuna Award winner in 2001 and multiple National Games winner. He is one of the most respected names in Indian tennis. Manisha Malhotra: Former Indian #1, she is also a former Indian Federation Cup player. Heath McNeil Mathews: Visiting Physiotherapist, Heath has tremendous experience on both the ATP and WTA tours.