Continental-Jk Line Up Radial Foray

A senior J K Industries official told Business Standard that the two companies were in the final stages of negotiations to set up a Rs 400-crore joint venture to manufacture tyre radials for passenger and light commercial vehicles (LCVs).

The new joint venture, which is likely to have a 50:50 equity participation between the two companies, will have an installed capacity of 15,000 tyres per day. The German tyre major plans to buy-back nearly 80 per cent of the company's production, which it will sell in Europe, the official said.

Continental Tyres, which has already entered into joint ventures with Modi Rubber (MRL) for radial truck tyres and with Apollo Tyres for passenger radials, may finally tie-up with the J K group to manufacture radial tyres for light commercial vehicles only.

 

This will prevent overlapping of the various product categories, in its three joint ventures in the country, a tyre industry analyst said.

There are essentially three segments in the tyre industry