Automotive tyre maker TVS Eurogrip is scripting a new strategy for aggressive growth in the domestic and international markets. Unlike a bottom-up methodology, the company adopts a top-down approach targeting the mid-to-premium two-wheelers globally.
At the company’s recently-held ‘Tread Talk,’ V Sivaramakrishnan, CTO, TVS Eurogrip, said, “We would like to cover the entire market of powered 2-wheelers. Our initiatives in this direction are the breeding ground for the cutting-edge technologies we apply on the products that we sell.”
Elaborating on such initiatives, he said the contact part of a tyre with the road is just the size of a postcard; however, it is this part which ensures safety, reliability and ride comfort. As a tyre maker, the company seriously plays around this small patch to meet the customer needs.
“We focus our research & development efforts on continuously improving the bike and scooter tyre performance for India and the world. As part of this task, we have set up a state-of-the-art R&D facility in Madurai, India, and a design office in Milan, Italy,” Sivaramakrishnan said.
Scripting New Strategy
As the company wanted to widen its market horizon, it focussed on the emerging new possibilities. Since then, the company’s grip on the world market has been growing. It transformed the company into trendy and a disruptive global entity. The change is manifest in the company’s corporate office, where the Tread Talk was organised.
The team’s fresh thinking and quest for new opportunities helped the company tread a new path and break the old roadblocks. However, some of the new steps and promotional programmes fell through because of the COVID-induced pandemic. When the pandemic subsided, the company tied up with Chennai Super Kings, a well-performing IPL team, to roll out the new brand TVS Eurogrip.
Aftermarket
Traditionally focussed on the original equipment (OE) market, the tyre maker lacked grip on the replacement market. It was like a slip-skid effect on a wet road. Through an overhaul of brand equity in its aftermarket business, in FY19 the company opened distribution channels after changing the brand name ‘TVS Tyres’ to TVS Eurogrip. The name ‘TVS Tyres’ itself evolved in 2015 from TVS Srichakra. Interestingly, TVS Eurogrip and Eurogrip were TVS brand names for tyres sold in domestic and in the international (to the off-highway segment) markets respectively.
When COVID-19 was at its peak, the company made futuristic investments in brand campaigns, quality improvements and in developing new products. It went digital and began to deliver tyres directly to retailers through the newly-launched TVS Bandhan App. This gave a lot of traction for the company in the aftermarket. With this the company equalised its share in the OE and replacement markets.
P Madhavan, Executive VP – Sales & Marketing, TVS Eurogrip, said, “We are going at a pace faster than others in the replacement market and we’ve been gaining market share over competition.”
Brand building has been the forte of the competition for decades; however, TVS Eurogrip, despite being a young brand, has been growing faster. “We’re not very far behind,” he said and added that during the lockdown period of 60 to 90 days, the company appointed about 150 partners that straight away resulted in a 20% increase in business. Now the company has a partner in every PIN Code in the country. “We know where our gaps are, where our opportunities are, and we are focusing only on them,” he said.
In FY22, the company launched the ‘Tame The Turns’ campaign and also introduced 15 new products. The company exports tyres to 85 countries and is looking to expand its presence in the US, Europe, South America, Africa, and Australia.
Global Markets
As the company wanted to establish the Eurogrip brand in the global market, it set up a design office in Milan which produced global designs and gave an international flavour too to its products.
In 2021 the company launched its range of tyres in Europe under the brand Eurogrip BConnect. Launch in Indonesia followed suit. Now the company is aggressively going global by customising products for the premium two-wheelers. Professional riders began the testing process in Italy couple of weeks ago, and the company hopes that this initiative will gain volumes.
Renato Zilli, Europe Business Head, TVS Eurogrip, said that the company aims to cover the vast majority of the global circulating parc, offering product targeted at both ends of the spectrum, by 2025.
Giving a perspective on global presence, he said, till 2021, the company was present in the utility drive markets such as low cc/price vehicles used mainly for commuting or transportation - comprising mopeds, scooters, under-bones (step-through) and street bikes, up to 250cc.
The strategy is to be present in luxury-driven markets that include high cc/price vehicles used for leisure, racing, and journeys catering to multiple bike segments, up to 1,600cc. Products for these markets are currently concentrated in Africa, Asia, LATAM, Brazil and India markets, he said.
In 2022 the company entered Europe, Japan, Australia and the US with its products such as BConnect (urban commuting), Road Hound (sport touring), Climber XC (off-road) and MX Enduro.
The company also plans to cater to mid-displacement bikes from 250cc to 600cc, in both the radial and the cross-ply tyres, targeting armatures and racers as well. Towards this, it has commenced evaluation of the tyres by professional racers.
Though the company is not covering the Supersport segment, it will be looking at developing tyres for the bikes that can produce more than 200hp. Therefore, between 2023 and 2025, it will commence its assault to cater to sport, adventure and custom cruiser heavy tourer vehicle segments. These initiatives will enable the company to cater to up to 90% of the market in terms of products, retail network, and after-sales activities, Zilli said.
“TVS Eurogrip and Eurogrip (the brand specifically for Europe) are already capable of serving the segment that we can easily define as super-premium. This was our aim from the beginning,” he said.
As part of the Tread Talk, the company has introduced tyres from its international range for the Indian market, including Duratrail EB+ (Explorer - for off-road and all-weather), Beamer HS+ (Urban – on-road and all-weather) and Beamer YS+ (Urban - on-road & all-weather). These are designed in Europe, manufactured in India and marketed the world over.
Tyres For EVs
According to industry reports, electric 2-wheeler penetration is expected to increase to 45% by 2027. And to capitalise on this growth, TVS Eurogrip has introduced LRR - low rolling resistance, tyres for electric two-wheelers. The company has also been working closely with OEM partners to manufacture tyres for electric vehicles (EVs).
The tyres work against roads to get a grip; the heavier the vehicle, the higher the friction, resulting in loss of energy and eventually riding range for EVs. The tyre developed by the company uses a special compound to get a better grip and low deformation. The contiguous and connected unique tread design, stiffer sidewalls and optimised weight offer improved grip and low friction. The tread design, replicating the electronic printed circuit board, offers shorter braking distance and improved range, Sivaramakrishnan said.
To the question, if the rate of deceleration in EVs due to regenerative braking will influence the EV tyres, he answered, in this scenario, the rate of deceleration is very high, and the tyre takes much of the friction from the road and therefore, it tends to wear faster. As a result, the regular tyres wear 15% faster in EVs than in the ICE two-wheelers. The company addressed this issue with its special tyre - E Torq, he said.
The use of silica compound helps the tyre get higher mileage/range. Introducing new technologies is a challenge as they increase cost. However, scale can bring down cost, Shivaramakrishnan added.