HANOVER, Germany (Sept. 22, 2009)—Continental A.G.'s commercial vehicle tires division has revived a bias-ply truck tire collaboration with India's Modi Group that began in 1974 and may extend it further.
The latest agreement gives Conti access to the Indian market where demand for truck tires stands at about 12 million units annually and growth rates of about 7 percent have been forecast. Modi will produce more than 1 million Continental-brand bias-ply truck tires. Production began in June.
The agreements include a technical cooperation agreement and a license agreement for Continental brand bias-ply tires to be distributed via a revived Modi sales network. Bias-ply tires account for more than 90 percent of the Indian market, Conti said, noting that radial technology will remain of secondary importance for the replacement market for a while to come.
“For us, this new agreement represents an extremely useful revival of our activities in India, a market which we know will grow significantly over the coming years,” Continental project manager Christian Sass said.
The collaboration between Continental and Modi dates back to 1974 when the two agreed to an extensive technical cooperation for the setting up of a Modi tire plant in Modipuram, Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Modi idled production of bias tires in 2001 and only started to reactivate the tire plant two years ago. New contracts were formed between Continental and Modi, and the previous arrangements were revived in the subsequent agreements. Further collaboration possibilities are being examined.