Page 68 - Retrading Business N102 2022-03
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Indian retread major Elgi Rubber Limited is all set for a transformation in terms of its approach to the Indian domestic market that gels with prevailing local trends. With new leadership at the helm, the company took advantage of the recent Elgi Franchisee Meet in Coimbatore to announce a slew of measures aimed at driving the company into new regions and markets on domestic turf. This included the introduction of a new competitively priced retreading equipment line and the launch of a new
Harsha Varadaraj - “We are looking at new market avenues for selling our product range beyond the existing franchisee network and in the market where we have no presence.”
Of key importance was the introduction of the new 2-Series line of - clave loading system, inspection spreader, building machine and enve- lope spreader. The 2-series is essentially a range of manually operated value line models aimed at small and medium retreaders, which has been designed to meet the demands of high productivity, uniformity, and reliability at an affordable price.
“We believe this line prove to a game changer which will compete as a ‘value for money’ product in the market,” said Harsha Varadaraj, Di- rector, Elgi Rubber Limited. “We always believed there was a gap in our range, and this line will be able to plug that gap. Currently, no com- pany in India sells this kind of line in this pricing,” he added.
The company plans to aggressively market the new line and is target- ing sales of 4-5 lines in a month. The new line is competitively priced at about INR 3 million and can retread 400 tyres per month. The range supplements Elgi’s existing 5 and 6-Series lines, which are heavier duty machines offering motorised and semi-automatic controls re- spectively and which are aimed premium retreaders with medium and high retread volumes.
Elgi Rubber also announced the introduction of new category of pre- mium level retreaders, who will function under the new banner of ‘Elgi Tread Franchisees’. This new group of franchisees will consist entirely of retreaders who use 100% Elgi machinery and tread rubber. “These sites will operate with Elgi’s standardised process system laid down by the group, have an upmarket ambience, and identify more with the Elgi brand,” explained Harsha Varadaraj.
In the meantime, during the last couple of years, Elgi Rubber has also started working with retreaders operating in the open market using multiple products but who are willing to source Elgi tread and other items. “We are looking at new market avenues for selling our prod- uct range beyond the existing franchisee network and in the market where we have no presence,” explained Harsha. With this in mind, quality product of Elgi,” he added.
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