Gulf Oil to launch lubricants for cars

Gulf Oil Corporation, a Hinduja group company, will launch lubricants for the car segment and focus on the tractor segment this financial year, a top company official said.

"We will make an entry into the car market. We will launch a slew of products for the segment," Gulf Oil Corporation President (Lubes Business) Ravi Chawla told PTI.

"We will also strongly concentrate on the tractor segment," he said.

Gulf Oil has been making lubricants for trucks and two-wheelers at its Silvassa unit. The Silvassa plant has a production facility of 75,000 KL.

The company has a six per cent market share in the automotive segment and three per cent in the industrial segment.

Gulf Oil exports its products to neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Philippines from Silvassa.

The growth in the Indian lubricant market is expected to be flat this fiscal, Chawla said.

"Growth in the lubricant market is expected to pick up later this year. Last year, the first-half witnessed a growth while the second-half was bad," he said.

"This year would be the opposite of last year. So there would be a flat growth in the lubricant industry," he said.