Japanese tyre maker Bridgestone Corporation plans to focus on radialisation of commercial vehicles (CV) in India, a segment where it has very little exposure.
The world's largest tyre-and-rubber-maker, which enjoys close to 30 per cent marketshare in the passenger cars radial tyre segment, wants to strengthen its position in the commercial vehicles market.
"We have to concentrate on radialisation as much as possible. Our aim is to first consolidate our position in the radialisation of the passenger car market and then move on to commercial vehicles," Bridgestone India Senior Deputy General Manager (Marketing) Vaibhav Saraf said.
Radialisation refers to changing from traditional tyres that use nylon threads to ones that use steel wires. The rate of radialisation among cars, truck and bus manufacturers is increasing rapidly.
Radial tyres help boost mileage significantly, resulting in a net saving of up to 10 per cent on fuel bills. "We presently hold about 30 per cent market share in passenger cars (PSR) and want to take this to about 34 per cent over the next three years," Saraf said.
