Taiwanese tyre brand Maxxis is slowly powering its way through the two-wheeler market in India, helping it chalk up numbers to put it in the global top 10 tyre manufacturers list for 2022, according to Global Tire Report, published by Rubber News. Maxxis comes in at the 10th spot with an annual turnover of $3.8 billion. The company had committed an investment of $100 million for its India operations, expanding its capacity at its Sanand, Gujarat plant. The company is also looking at a 15% market share of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) segment in India.
Maxxis says it focus will continue to be on the OEM two-wheeler market in India for now, although it does also supply tyres to four-wheelers – mainly in the replacement segment. It is targeting the premium end of the two-wheeler market, already being one of the suppliers to brands such as Hero, Yamaha, Honda, and Suzuki. It now plans to look at the premium motorcycles come from Bajaj, KTM and BMW as well.
Leonard Liao, Vice-President, Indo-Pacific Sales, at Maxxis Rubber India, “In terms of overall growth in India, in the last one year, we have grown by 70% in original equipment and replacement segments.”
Shu-Chiu Yen, Commercial Head, Maxxis Rubber India adds: “If we continue to work with the efficiency that we have been working with, by next year we will be able to reach our target market share.”
Also read: Maxxis Tyres to invest an additional $100 million in India
Maxxis is currently focusing on two areas in India – the premium and off-road segments for two-wheeler tyres, especially for radial tyres. While there is interest in the four-wheeler space for SUV tyres, Maxxis says it wants to take things “step-by-step”, consolidating each segment before it moves on to the next. The EV space is one such.
“We have been working in the EV space for over 10 years and as the demand increases, we can smoothly shift the manufacturing here. We have supplied tyres to Bounce-Infinity scooters already,” says Yen. “Our current focus is to build quality, service and trust with our brand.”
While the company may be in the top 10 globally, in India Maxxis is still a niche player. Interestingly, none of the Indian brands are in the top 10 globally, with most like Apollo, Ceat, MRF and JK Tyres coming within the top 20 brands. According to a report by Expert Market Research, the tyre market volume for 2023 is nearly 180 million units and will continue to grow at about 7% per year to reach around 263 million units in the next 10 years.
At present, Maxxis has an installed capacity of 20,000 tyres and 40,000 tubes per day at its Sanand plant spread over 106 acres. It claims to be operating at capacity already and the additional investment outlined last year is to expand that capacity, as well as its 2,000-odd dealerships across the country.
