Built with an investment of over Rs.300 crore, the new plant will manufacture The Yokohama Earth-1 tyres, specially designed for Indian conditions. They come with Wear Control Shoulder Design (vertical and horizontal grooves) to reduce uneven wear and enhance quietness as tyres wear. Centre Rib in the tread pattern helps maximize handling performance. These tyres control pattern noise echoing under the car body for a quieter ride, and maximise drainage performance among other features.
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 1st phase of commercial production starts in the 2nd half of 2014 with 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.
“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.
Through trial production, Yokohama factory employs more than 100 direct employees. This number will grow 3-fold by the end of 2014. At present, Yokohama India has about 600 point of sales including 22 Yokohama Club Network (YCN). The company plans to double its YCN strength by 2014 end. Operating on 2% of total market share here, tube type tyres are a huge contributor to total passenger car radial market here. Yokohama India only competes in the tubeless market, and looks forward to 5% market share in the near future to support GD 100.
Apart from replacement tyres business, globally Yokohama tyres is original equipment supplier to many car manufacturers including Audi, Honda, Mercedes Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Suzuki and Toyota.
