Celebrating the long-standing relationship between Auto OEMs and Tyre Industry, the 3rd edition of ATMA Annual Conclave brought leading minds from Auto, Tyre & Auto Components sectors to set the roadmap for Automotive Industry @2030. Over 350 senior executives from the country and abroad participated in the day-long event. These included delegations from Japan Automobile Tyre Manufacturers Association (JATMA) and European Tyre & Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO).
“Indian market is showing very good progress, in view of the government’s thrust on high localization, high export and high technology absorption. Consequently, we are hearing many positive stories about India in recent times. India has become the fifth largest economy in the world. India has also become the third largest automobile market in the world in 2022 calendar year. The country’s exports are at a historic high level. Overall, India is increasingly becoming a promising destination for the manufacturing sector given a growing domestic market and good export potential”, said Chief Guest Mr Hisashi Takeuchi, MD & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd.
“New features like tyre pressure management system and smart tyres are being well accepted in passenger vehicles. These investments not only help to improve tyre performance and reduce the need for frequent replacements, but also offer cost savings to our customers. Tyres make up about 6 to 8% of operating costs incurred by the truck operators amounting to second highest monthly spend towards consumables. Every tyre put on the road by OEM generates demand for 10 to 12 tyres over the vehicle lifetime. It is important that auto OEMs and tyre manufacturers work together to create a network of tyre care facilities to maximize tyre efficiency, which will in turn improve the transportation efficiency and reduction in logistics cost”, said Guest of Honour Mr Vinod Aggarwal, President SIAM and MD & CEO, VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd.
In his keynote on “Getting the Human Capital Ready for 2030”, Dr. Santrupt Misra, Director, Group Human Resources, Aditya Birla Group said, “Building human capital is not just about competitiveness, it is about creating the soft power of your industry. A lot of the time, we don’t understand the significance of soft power in our businesses, in our industry and national economy. Many countries have used their soft power historically to power their economy”
“As an integral part of the Auto sector, Tyre Industry is poised to set the wheels of economy moving faster with transformational growth in the last two decades. With 5 Indian tyre companies in the top 25 in the world and the manufacturing presence of all the global tyre majors, India’s tyre sector has the wherewithal to accelerate the Indian economy’s and automotive sector’s journey to the next level”, said Mr Satish Sharma, Chairman ATMA.
The collaboration between Auto and Tyre sectors has gone several notches up in the last few years as tyre is at the forefront of many of the attributes expected from new-age vehicles including fuel efficiency, safety, ride & handling. In the case of electric vehicles, this synergy between Auto and tyre manufacturers has taken an altogether new dimension, added Mr Sharma.
“Government of India’s emphasis on infrastructure, supply chain, logistics and rapid strides in New Age technologies like artificial intelligence, virtual reality, manufacturing 4.0 will further enhance economies of scale and India’s cost competitiveness for sectors such as tyres. Notwithstanding challenges to the global economy due to high inflation, rising interest rates and elevated energy prices, leading to slowing of external demand. Indian tyre exports have held on their own. Tyre exports from India went up 23% To cross 12,000 crore in first half of fiscal 2022 23”, said Mr Gaganjot Singh, Vice Chairman ATMA.
On the occasion, Dr Santrupt Misra and Mr Vinod Aggarwal released a compendium prepared by the ATMA Secretariat presenting data across Auto, Tyre, Raw material and relevant sectors in an interactive, easy to read format.
Sessions & Presentations
The day-long event had several interesting sessions. Mr. Yogesh Mahansaria, MD, Mahansaria Tyres and Mr. Hemal Thakkar, Director Consulting, CRISIL made thought provoking presentations in the session titled Taking Indian Tyre Industry to the Next Orbit chaired by Mr. O S Kanwar, Chairman, Apollo Tyres and Past Chairman, ATMA.
Senior Journalist Mr. Gautam Srinivasan moderated an interesting panel discussion on Tyre Industry @2030 involving tyre industry leaders Mr. Neeraj Kanwar (VC&MD, Apollo Tyres) and Mr. Anant Goenka (MD, CEAT Ltd.) exchanging notes with two finest investment experts namely Mr Amyn Pirani of JP Morgan and Mr Joseph George of IIFL Securities.
The session by Dr. Raghupati Singhania, CMD, JK Tyre & Industries Ltd came alive with Tyre Industry’s partners Mr. Ganesh Mani, President and COO, Ashok Leyland, Mr. C.V. Raman, CTO , Maruti Suzuki India, Mr. Sachin Kulkarni, ED & Board Member, VW Group India, Mr. Shamsher Dewan, Senior VP & Group Head (Corporate Ratings), ICRA and Mr. Sandeep Barasia, ED & Chief Business Officer, Delhivery Ltd.
Another session moderated by well-known auto journalist Mr. Hormazd Sorabjee, Editor, Autocar India focused on managing the transformation amidst new age challenges – geo politics, sustainability, digitisation and VUCA. Tyre industry leaders Mr. Satish Sharma, President – APMEA, Apollo Tyres, Mr Sandeep Mahajan, Chairman & MD, Goodyear India , Mr. Anuj Kathuria, President (India), JK Tyre & Industries and Mr. Rahul Mammen, MD, MRF Ltd.
Awards & Recognitions
Behind its growth and the ideals propagated by the tyre industry are several organisations and a committed set of people. ATMA Awards conferred on the occasion by Chief Guest Mr Hisashi Takeuchi recognised and paid tributes to such exemplary efforts.
ATMA Tyre Care & Road Safety Partnership Award was won by Indian Oil Corporation (PSU Category) and SRM University (University category). ATMA Safety Champion Award was conferred upon Mr. Sudershan Gusain (Bridgestone). Indian Institute of Technology, IIT Madras was the recipient of ATMA Industry- Academia Collaboration Award. Dr. KN Raghavan, Executive Director, Rubber Board was honoured with ATMA Key Raw Material Security Initiative Award. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd was recognised with ATMA Collaboration for Technological Excellence Award and Mr. KM Mammen, CMD, MRF Ltd. was the recipient of first ATMA Lifetime Achievement Award.