The ATMA Annual Convention 2019, the flagship event of the tyre industry in India hosted by the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) in New Delhi last week, brought the spotlight on closer collaboration between vehicle manufacturers OEMs and the tyre industry with a view to address the challenges in a disruptive era of mobility.

The ATMA Convention brought together automotive and tyre industry leaders, leading policy makers, government officials, thought leaders and consultants. Three past chairmen of ATMA – K M Mammen, Dr Raghupati Singhania and  Satish Sharma – led the tyre Industry in welcoming the dignitaries from the Auto sector.

In his welcome address, Anant Goenka, chairman, ATMA, said: “The auto Industry is going through tremendous change and therefore the bonds between auto OEMs and the tyre Industry become all the more important. There are new concepts such as electric vehicles, connected vehicles, shared vehicles and autonomous vehicles, which are all being talked about and visible in different parts of the world. Against this backdrop, it is more important for us to partner even closer, develop technologies closely and work and think together as to how we can take advantage of this change and convert these changes into strong opportunities for the entire value chain.”

In a video message, Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH),  Nitin Gadkari stated that the Indian tyre industry is creating new landmarks in domestic growth as well as exports, and contributing to a growing economy. He advised the industry to develop new technologies with single-minded focus on road safety which is the top priority of the government. He urged the industry to join hands with MoRTH in running driver training institutes and skilling people for improving road safety.

Vikram Kirloskar: "There are three major challenges facing the auto and tyre industry – energy security of the country, environment issues and the challenge of Make in India. The auto and tyre sectors need to collaborate in meeting all three challenges.”

The chief guest for the inaugural session, Vikram S Kirloskar, president, Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) and vice-chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, said, “If the economy grows, mobility will increase and if mobility increases, the economy will grow. There is large headroom for growth in India. However, there are three major challenges facing the auto and tyre industry – energy security of the country, environment issues and the challenge of Make in India. The auto and tyre sectors need to collaborate in meeting all three challenges.”

In a special session with the ATMA managing committee held on the sidelines of the ATMA Annual Convention 2019, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog expressed confidence over the progress made by the tyre industry in India and urged the members to continue to focus on manufacturing excellence and lead the world in size and scale.

Anuj Kathuria, president, Global Trucks, Ashok Leyland presented a keynote on the emerging scenario in commercial vehicle segment.  Rakesh Batra, Partner & National Leader - Automotive Sector, E&Y and Rajiv Budhraja, director general, ATMA presented an overview of the auto and tyre sectors respectively.

Lively PV, CV and 2W panel discussions
This year’s ATMA Convention had three high-profile panel discussions – one each on commercial vehicles, passenger vehicles and 2-wheelers – where sector heads in auto OEMs interacted with their counterparts in the tyre sector.

The CV industry panel comprised Satish Sharma (Apollo Tyres),  Rajiv Prasad (JK Tyres), Rajesh Kaul (Tata Motors); Suvendu Moitra (Ashok Leyland);  Pradeep Mishra (VE Commercial Vehicles) and was moderated by  Rakesh Batra (E&Y)

Kavan Mukhtyar (PwC) moderated the PV session which had  Koshy Varghese (MRF Ltd), Parag Satpute (Bridgestone), Deepak Sawkar (Maruti Suzuki), Abhishek Sahi (Honda) and Chanchal Chauhan (Editor BTVi).

The 2-Wheeler session had representation from leading OEMs and included  Nitish Bajaj (Ceat), P Vijayaraghavan (TVS Tyres);  Deepak Manchanda (Hero MotoCorp);  Rahul A. Karambelkar (Bajaj Auto) and Ashok Goel (Hero MotoCorp). This session was moderated by Shamsher Dewan (ICRA).

Speaking at the valedictory session on future of mobility, Anil Srivastava, Adviser (Infrastructure Connectivity) & DG-DMEO, NITI Aayog said, “The government has been working very hard on the issue of electric vehicles and significant policy decisions have been taken including FAME II. Several policy decisions have been taken for switchover and smooth transition to electric vehicles whether related to power tariffs or setting up of charging stations. The Ministry of Housing has amended bylaws for charging infrastructure. Ministry of Science & Technology is working on charging protocols. Heavy Industries has come out with FAME and fiscal incentives. State governments have also come forward with incentives like no road tax on 2-wheelers and no permits required.

New office bearers of ATMA (2019-20) appointed
K M Mammen, chairman and MD, MRF Ltd and Anshuman Singhania, whole-time director of JK Tyre & Industries, have been unanimously elected as chairman and vice-chairman of ATMA.

Mr Mammen has held various executive positions in business associations in the country including president of the Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce. He is an executive member on the board of FICCI and Chairman of the Board of Madras Christian College Association. Mr Mammen has been at the helm of every landmark that has brought the company to the milestone of over Rs 15,000 crore (over USD 2.2 billion) turnover and ranking amongst the top 20 tyre companies in the world

Anshuman Singhania is a graduate from Oxford Brookes University, UK and an alumnus of London Business School. He started his career from the shop floor as an apprentice and has held several positions in Planning, Production, Product Development, Quality Control, Stores & Purchase, Finance as well as Sales & Marketing. He has played a key role in implementing the latest technologies in the manufacturing process.

Set up in 1975, ATMA is amongst the most active national industry bodies in the country representing the Rs 60,000 crore (US$8.5 billion) automotive tyre industry. Eleven large tyre companies comprising a mix of Indian and International tyre majors and representing over 95 percdent of production of tyres in India are members of the Association. They include Apollo Tyres, Birla Tyres, Bridgestone India, Ceat, Continental India, Goodyear India, JK Tyre & Industries, Michelin, MRF, TVS Tyres and Yokohama.