Sri Lanka’s CEAT Kelani to expand brand’s market share while boosting import substitution
CEAT Kelani in Sri Lanka through CEAT Winmile AW is reportedly expanding brand’s market share while boosting import substitution.
CEAT Kelani Holdings has launched heavy duty, high-performance radial tyres custom-engineered for trucks, buses and prime movers plying Sri Lanka’s roads and manufactured for domestic conditions in a ground-breaking initiative by the company that produces nearly half of the country’s tyre requirements.
According to local media reports, part of a phased execution of Rs 3 billion investment announced in January 2018, the first locally-produced Truck Bus Radial (TBR) tyres have undergone extensive road tests in Sri Lanka and India for several months after the initial batches rolled off custom-designed Italian machinery at a state-of-the-art production facility set up at the CEAT Kelani manufacturing complex in Kelaniya.
CEAT Kelani Holdings Chairman, Chanaka De Silva has said at the launch, “CEAT Kelani Holdings is a shining example of a very successful joint venture, with productivity improvements across our plants at Kelaniya post the JV. We have moved from the old conventional Nylon tyres to the tyres you see here today. With the introduction of TBR tyres which require the apex of tyre technology and with our new generation car tyres CEAT-Kelani factories are now producing tyres equivalent to any major international tyre producer.”
“Our investment in a TBR plant in Sri Lanka is a huge milestone not just for the company but for the market as well, because we will offer commercial radial tyres on par with the highest quality equivalents made in India, enabling significant import substitution on TBRs coming in from India as well as China,” CEAT Kelani Holdings Managing Director Ravi Dadlani has been quoted as saying.
“These tyres have the important advantage of being designed and built to perform in local conditions to local expectations, while matching international quality and safety standards.”
OSL take:
The advancement of CEAT Kelani is indicative of the successes recorded by joint venture partnerships. This could be taken as an ideal business model by local companies looking at forming joint ventures with foreign companies and vice versa.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/01072019/Z_3 |