Honourable Chief Minister of Haryana Shri Bhupinder Singh Hooda inaugurated the first tyre manufacturing unit of Yokohama India Private Limited in India, at HSIIDC Bahadurgarh.
Present at the occasion were:
Mr. Takeshi Yagi (Ambassador of Japan in India).
Mr. Tarun Bajaj (MD – HSIIDC).
Mr. Rajinder Joon (MLA – Bahadurgarh).
Dr. Shigeru Kagami (Corporate officer – The Yokohama Rubber Company Limited Japan).
Mr. Takeshi Fujino, MD – Yokohama India
Built with an investment of over Rs.300 crore, this new manufacturing unit at Bahadurgarh will manufacture The Yokohama Earth-1 tyres, designed to cater to the comfort and economy segment along with S. drive.
Speaking at the occasion Mr. Hooda said “ We are glad that Yokohama India chose Bahadurgarh. Of every 2 cars is being manufactured in India 1 comes from Haryana. Infact 70 percent of total Japanese investments in India too is in Haryana”
Yokohama India will see its first phase of commercial production start in the 2nd half of 2014 with a max production capacity of 2000 tyres per day. “The very plant can be scaled up to 8000 tyres per day in the next phases of growth. Yokohama India will continue to import tyres other than being manufactured in India” said Mr. Takeshi Fujino, MD – Yokohama India.
At the current trial production itself, the Yokohama factory employs more than 100 direct employees and will soon grow three folds by the end of 2014.
“The Yokohama Earth-1 tyre is especially “Designed for India” keeping the diverse road conditions in mind and will cater to most of the cars in B, B+ and C-segment. It is tough, to take on rough roads but quiet at the same time to provide comfortable ride on smooth roads” further added Mr. Fujino.
Yokohama India currently has approx 600 point of sales which also includes 22 Yokohama Club Network (YCN) across length and breadth of India. YCN is a specialized network based on Yokohama’s global philosophy to develop Point Of Sales to provide world class tyre buying experience.
Yokohama India’s plan is to double up the YCN strength by end of 2014. Yokohama India is currently operating on 2% of the total market share. While tube type tyres still contribute a considerable share of the total passenger car radial market, Yokohama India is only competing in the tubeless market. With the fast transformation of market from tube type tyres to tubeless tyres and manufacturing unit coming up, the world’s Eighth tyre manufacturer is looking at 5% market share in the near future to support GD 100.
The Yokohama Earth 1 tyre comes with technologically advanced Wear Control Shoulder Design which are Vertical and Horizontal Grooves that reduce uneven wear and enhance quietness as the tyres wears. The Centre Rib in the tread pattern helps to maximize handling performance also with other features which include controlling the pattern noise echoing under the car body, ensuring a quieter ride, maximise drainage performance among other features.
Globally other than replacement tyres business, Yokohama tyres is original equipment suppliers to many top of the line car manufacturers like Audi, Honda, Mercedes Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Suzuki and Toyota.