Ceat uses new warranty to emphasize ag tire quality

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — India's Ceat Ltd. is offering a "best in class" seven-year warranty on all of its ag radial tires sold in North America.

According to the company, customers who have a Ceat ag radial that becomes unserviceable, unrepairable or unsafe due to a defect in materials or workmanship during the first two years, with no more than 25 percent wear, will receive 100 percent credit.

For the third to seventh year, the tires are warrantied on a pro-rated basis, depending on tread wear. Ceat, India's No. 4 tire maker, said if the tire is 90-percent worn, a 10-percent credit will be given to the customer.

In addition, Ceat said its ag radials are warrantied for field hazard and stubble damage—customers will receive 75-percent credit if this damage were to occur. Credit will be 50 percent within the second year and 25 percent credit within third year.

Tarang Srivastava, general manager of Ceat Specialty Tires Inc., called the warranty the best "offered on any ag tire brand competing in the value segment of the U.S. market.

"We have a high-quality product manufactured at one of the world's most advanced ag radial factories," he said "This warranty will help give U.S. farmers and ranchers the confidence to give Ceat quality a try."

Ceat introduced the Farmax R85 ag radial tire, to the U.S. market last year. The tire, available in rim sizes 20 to 46, features flexible sidewalls, wider tread face and higher inner tire volume that the company said helps reduce soil compaction and allows it to carry more load.

Ceat said the tire's dual lug angle design with more lug overlap gives it superior traction and better stability.

The company said it is adding 65 and 70 series Farmax tires to the U.S. lineup, with flotation radials to follow.

Ceat became the first tire company in the world outside of Japan to win the Deming Prize in 2017. The Deming Prize, founded in Japan, recognizes companies that achieve business transformation by implementing Total Quality Management (TQM).

Late last year, Ceat announced it was establishing a U.S. business unit in Charlotte to handle the launch of Ceat-branded radial agricultural and specialty tires in the U.S. The company was working with wholesaler Tyres International Inc. to get the initiative off the ground. Stow, Ohio-based Tyres International has distribution centers in Illinois and Nevada in addition to Ohio.

Ceat also the commissioned a radial tire plant in Ambernath, in India's Maharashtra state in 2017. Ceat invested nearly $50 million in the plant, which is rated at 40 metric tons per day in the first phase, with expansion to 100 tons per day planned.

The Ceat name originally was that of an independent Italian cable and tire maker—for Cavi Electrici Affini Torino—that expanded to India in the late 1950s. Pirelli acquired Ceat in the 1970s and sold the Indian business to Ceat's parent company, RPG Group, in 1981.

RPG acquired global rights to the Ceat name in 2010, enabling it to explore more international business for the brand.

In its home market, Ceat has original equipment supply agreements with global farm machinery makers operating there, such as JCB, CNH, CAT, Daimler, Atlas Copco, Wirtgen Hamm, Mahindra, Tata Hitachi, Terex, etc.