The extraordinary spurt in two-wheeler sales over the last year and a half seems to have set tyre companies rolling. JK Tyre, like Apollo and Ceat, is entering the two and three-wheeler tyre market.
Arun K Bajoria, president of JK Tyre, said, "We are looking at the two and three-wheeler tyre markets. The growth in the segment has been absolutely mind boggling and we are interested in having a presence in every segment of the tyre market."
Bajoria, however, refused to comment on whether this would be achieved through a marketing tie-up or a technological alliance with an existing two-wheeler tyre company.
JK Tyre expects to finish the year at Rs 2300 crore (Rs 23 billion), a 15 per growth over the previous year, and hopes to cross Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) in exports as well.
The growth is in line with the company's target to surpass $1 billion turnover by 2008, Bajoria said.
The Chennai-based MRF Tyres is the leader in the two-wheeler tyre market with a 34 per cent share in motorcycles and 41 per cent in scooter tyres (April-June 2004 figures).
TVS is the second biggest player with a 23 per cent market share in motorcycles followed by Falcon and Ceat.
Other tyre-makers such as Apollo, which stayed clear of the two and three-wheeler segment, entered the market through a tie-up with TVS Srichakra.
Even Ceat, which missed a big part of the action when it exited the two-wheeler market in 1999, was back in 2002 with sourcing arrangements from three manufacturing facilities to meet its needs.