Chennai plant anchors Michelin's India to global sourcing play

CHENNAI: Michelin is sharpening its India strategy around local manufacturing and sourcing, even as it seeks to tap the transformation of the country’s trucking industry with a new tyre that the company estimates could help a fleet operator running 250 to 300 trucks save around Rs 3 lakh annually.

The French tyre major on Thursday launched the Michelin X Multi Energy Z2, a new-generation truck and bus tyre manufactured at its Chennai plant. Designed for Indian operating conditions, the tyre promises fuel savings of up to 13% and up to 25% longer tyre life compared with competing products.

Shantanu Deshpande, managing director, Michelin India, said fleet owners were increasingly looking beyond the initial purchase price and evaluating the overall cost of ownership. “A fleet owner is actually buying a tyre as an asset which is required for him to run his business,” he said.

The shift comes as the trucking industry moves from a fragmented structure towards larger, consolidated fleets, while better highways and heavier vehicles reshape logistics. Trucks weighing 20 to 25 tonnes and above, which accounted for just 6 to 7% of sales a decade ago, now constitute around 50%, as per Deshpande.

Michelin is also expanding India’s role beyond manufacturing for the domestic market. Vitor Silva, president, Michelin, AIM region, said the company was focusing on a “local-to-local” approach in India, while sourcing raw materials, including chemicals and other inputs, from the country for its manufacturing plants overseas. The Chennai facility also supports Michelin’s global operations through back-office services.

The Chennai plant has an annual capacity of 54,000 tonnes and employs around 1,000 people. India’s contribution also spans Pune, which has more than 2,000 engineers working primarily in tyre research and development. One of Michelin’s four global innovation labs is located in Pune, where the company is expanding its R&D capabilities.

The 1.7 billion euros Michelin, with 70 factories, is also working with startups in India on rubber plantation management, Silva said.
Deshpande also said an experiment on the Namakkal-Tiruchy route found 25% longer tyre life, reinforcing its focus on improving fleet economics.