As pioneers of radial technology, the company produced the first radial tyre in 1977 and is currently the market leader in the Truck Bus Radial segment. In 2019, it achieved a remarkable feat by entering the coveted Limca Book of Records with the country’s largest off-the-road tyre - VEM 045.
A global force
JK Tyre is present in 105 countries with over 180 distributors globally. The company has 12 globally benchmarked ‘sustainable’ manufacturing facilities - 9 in India and 3 in Mexico – which collectively produce around 32 million tyres annually. The company provides end-to-end solutions across segments of passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, farming, Off-the-Road and for two & three-wheelers. In 2020, it rolled out its 20 millionth Truck/Bus Radial tyre - becoming the first and the only Indian company to achieve this milestone.
R&D
JK Tyre’s unwavering commitment towards innovation is reflected through the concerted efforts at its state-of-the-art global research and technology centre – the Raghupati Singhania Centre of Excellence (RPSCOE) in Mysore. The Centre houses some of the world’s finest technologies and techniques, thereby, adding to the larger efforts of the company to put India on the global innovation map. The Hari Shankar Singhania Elastomer and Tyre Research Institute (HASETRI) fulfils the need for globally competitive technologies for tyres and polymers, while the JK Tyre Tech Centre is a hub for new product developments, and is catering to the current and emerging needs of its customers.
JK Tyre launched India’s first ‘Smart Tyre’ technology and introduced Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS) by offering TREEL Sensors, which monitors the tyre’s vital statistics, including pressure and temperature. A cloud-based monitoring system; Smart Tyres warrant maintenance of tyres through systematic diagnostics, early detection of issues, and deployment of timely preventive measures. Monitoring all aspects of the tyre, the Smart Tyre technology screens a tyre’s vital statistics, including pressure and temperature by using sensors integrated with TPMS.
This transformative technology is a bold step forward by the company in making the tyre truly intelligent and interactive, and providing tailor-made mobility for the needs of its digitally savvy customers. The future of auto is technology-driven, and JK Tyre is making significant strides towards bringing smart integration between driver, vehicle and tyres. Additionally, it allows to deliver higher fuel efficiency upto 4-5% leading to reduction in carbon emission and environment conservation.
Green Manufacturing
JK Tyre has always been at the forefront of advocating green manufacturing in the country, ensuring that sustainability extends beyond the products they create, with the goal of reducing carbon footprint across every part of their global business. The company places focus on the use of green and clean energy, resulting in the reduction of greenhouse gases and dependence on fossil fuels. It has installed solar panels in its manufacturing units across Rajasthan, Mysuru, Chennai, and Gwalior to harvest 14.7MWp of energy organically.
The company has replaced coal with other renewable resources such as biomass, and development of alternate green coal by planting more than 25,000 bamboo trees. To reduce the greenhouse emission further, it procured wind power for its Chennai and Mysuru plants to finally reach a level of 55% of renewable power contribution in its total demand. These efforts helped JK Tyre reduce its carbon emission intensity by 53% in the last 7 years and increase renewables in its power mix to 55%, to annually increase by 2-5%.
Waste management
Under the zero waste to landfill initiative, JK Tyre initiated the program for Zero waste to landfill. To aid this effort, the company has developed a robust integrated waste management system at its five plants and aims to reduce the quantum of waste being directed to landfills by 2-5% every year over the next ten years. For its efforts, it received a certification from the British Standards Institution, after a thorough audit in February 2021. JK Tyre was recently awarded the most coveted safety award in the world -the Sword of Honour for Safety across its plants by the British Safety Council, UK.
Strong customer support
The company also has a strong network of over 6000 dealers and 650+ dedicated brand shops called Steel Wheels and Xpress Wheels. JK Tyre continues to be amongst the largest exporters of truck / bus bias and radial tyres from India. It also markets passenger cars, light trucks, farm and off the road tyres across most global markets.
Putting Indian drivers on the international motorsport arena
JK Tyre is also synonymous with motorsport in the country. For over three decades, the company has relentlessly worked towards shaping India’s positioning as the motorsport hub of Asia, developing the right infrastructure for the sport and promoting young talent in the arena. Narain Karthikeyan, Gaurav Gill, Karun Chandhok, Armaan Ebrahim, Aditya Patel, Arjun Maini, Kush Maini, and Yash Aradhya, who have made India proud at the international level, are all JK Tyre prodigies. The all-embracing motorsport program that JK Tyre has brought into being will help put more Indian drivers on the international motorsport arena in the future.
A Superbrand
JK Tyre is the only Indian tyre manufacturer to be included in the list of Superbrands India in 2021 for the eighth consecutive year. Additionally, JK Tyre was featured among India’s Best Companies to Work For in 2019 by Great Place to Work®. Another remarkable addition to the list of the brand’s accolades is being a 3-time recipient of the Economic Times - Iconic Brand of the Year Award. The company has been recognised as the Brand of the Decade 2021 by BARC Asia & Herald Global and also for Active Customer Engagement at CII Customer Obsession Award 2021.
