Taiwanese tyre major Kenda Rubber has begun making inroads into the Indian OEM tyre market.

According to sources close to the development, Kenda Tires has bagged a major tyre order from Hero MotoCorp, The Taiwanese company has bagged an order for the supply 120,000 units of tyres a month to India’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer. The supply, it is understood, has commenced from May this year.

The sources also disclosed that the Taiwanese tyre maker has already been supplying its two- wheeler tyre to Bajaj Auto in India. It is shipping 30,000 tyres to Bajaj every month since 2009. The company has been shipping tyres to these two major two-wheeler makers in India through Nhava Sheva port near Mumbai.

Now the company is learned to have been negotiating with India Yamaha Motor and Honda Motorcycles & Scooter India to clinch big tyre deals from India, sources confirmed.

Kenda Tires is also in the process of establishing a strong distributing network to popularise its products in the Indian aftermarket. However, Kenda will supply tyres directly to OEMs while it looks for a financially sound distributor for the aftermarket segment.

Buoyed with its growing recognition among Indian two-wheeler OEMs, Kenda recently displayed its products at the Indian Manufacturing Show and its concurrent event Emma Expo 2014 in Bangalore last month.

Kenda is one of the major tyre manufacturers in Taiwan. It has tyre manufacturing units in multiple locations in Taiwan, China and Vietnam. Its product portfolio includes tyres for two- wheeler and light motor vehicles including passenger cars and SUVs.