A group of 136 tyre retailers from all over Sri Lanka attended a gala awards night at the Holiday Inn Singapore, at which they were honoured and handsomely rewarded for their contributions in 2014-15 to the CEAT brand’s growth in Sri Lanka.
Themed ‘Winning Together’ the grand awards ceremony was the highlight of the group’s visit to the city state, which included sightseeing tours, shopping and visits to Universal Studios and the Wax Museum.
Speaking at the glitzy awards presentation, CEAT Kelani Chairman Chanaka de Silva said the company had achieved turnover of Rs 10 billion in the last financial year, with domestic sales contributing Rs 7.6 billion and the exports team contributing Rs 2.4 billion.
“We have ventured in to new markets and new countries through our exports, whilst for the domestic market we have enhanced our production capacity for Radial tyres and have expanded both in range and sizes,” he said.
Mr de Silva disclosed that the radial category, which is the future, has been the focus of investment and thanked dealer partners who have made CEAT the dominant player in the category with a 30 per cent plus market share.
“We now have 32 sizes in this range, which covers passenger car radials, utility vehicle radials and radials for SUVs.
Many more sizes are to follow in the next couple of months,” he said.
He also briefed dealers on plans to expand in the motor cycle tyre category, pointing out that “in this respect, have invested in two plants with a capacity of 31,000 tyres of which the first phase of 14,000 tyres has already begun manufacturing the new GRIPP pattern tyres for our market.”
In his address, CEAT Kelani Managing Director Vijay Gambhire said the company’s focus would be on growth of 3-star categories in the radial, motorcycle and three-wheeler tyre segments.
He elaborated on the support system in place to provide comprehensive service and product quality improvements, leveraging the strengths and experience of CEAT India.
New products to meet evolving market needs and enable dealers to sell more, and growth of the company’s motorcycle tyre portfolio are among the exciting developments that dealers can look forward to, Mr Gambhire said.
CEAT’s Top 10 dealers for 2014-15, who received many rewards such as overseas holidays in addition to their trophies, were Nanda Tyre House – Vavuniya, Sumith Marketing Co. – Ambalangoda, U&H Wheel Service – Colombo 2, The Tyre Team – Nugegoda, Sumidag Tyre Co – Kurunegala, M. J. R. Peiris & Sons – Kandy, Paramount Tyre Traders – Colombo 14, Smart Wheels – Colombo 2, Shanthi Tyre Mart – Dikwella, and Anura Tyre Service – Nivithigala.
CEAT Kelani Holdings currently manufactures half of Sri Lanka’s tyre requirements.
A global tyre brand present in 110 countries and now headquartered in India, CEAT is an acronym that stands for Cavi Electrici Affini Torino, or Electrical Cables & Allied Products of Turin, with origins that date back to 1924 in Italy.
A National Business Excellence Award winner in 2010, 2011, and 2012 and a National Quality Award winner in the ‘Manufacturing – Large’ category in 2013, CEAT - Kelani Holdings is a successful Indo-Sri Lanka joint venture between the RPG Group of India and Kelani Tyre – Sri Lanka.
The company operates three manufacturing units in Sri Lanka and employs a workforce of 1,000 people.
Photo caption - CEAT's Top 10 dealers of 2014-15 with representatives of the company's management at the awards night in Singapore.
