The company sees India’s 16-inch and above passenger car tyre market growing from 10-12 million tyres to 17-18 million in the next 3-5 years.
30 Sep 2025 | 7025 Views | By Kiran Murali
Hoping to capitalize on the premiumization trend in the world’s third-largest passenger vehicle market, French tyre maker Michelin is betting big on India's growing appetite for passenger vehicles, especially in midsize SUVs and vehicles with upsized wheels, with local domestic production of passenger car radial tyres.
The company, which ...
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Hoping to capitalize on the premiumization trend in the world’s third-largest passenger vehicle market, French tyre maker Michelin is betting big on India's growing appetite for passenger vehicles, especially in midsize SUVs and vehicles with upsized wheels, with local domestic production of passenger car radial tyres.
The company, which previously relied on imports to serve the passenger vehicle market in India, has invested nearly Rs 686 crore over the last one year in its manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu and ramped up capacity for PCR tyres, beyond truck and bus tyres.
“India is more and more becoming a key market for us. It is a new chapter for Michelin in India, especially with our passenger car tyre business. We have been manufacturing truck tyres for almost a decade now. India’s car market is transforming. We have more and more SUVs being sold. Last year, over 50% of the new cars sold were SUVs,” Vitor Silva, president for Michelin’s Africa, India and Middle East business, told Autocar Professional.
India's passenger vehicle market is experiencing a significant transformation, driven by two key trends - the rise of SUVs and the broader premiumization of consumer preferences. The SUV segment has seen a meteoric rise in popularity, replacing hatchbacks and now accounting for more than half of all passenger vehicle sales in India.
Consumers, especially with rising disposable incomes and better road infrastructure, are willing to spend more for vehicles that offer better features, technology, and comfort. This is reflected in the demand for top-end variants of several models in the market. The shift is not just limited to SUVs, but also seen in premium hatchbacks and sedans.
“If I have to translate the vehicle transformation into the tyre market, 16 inches and above, you know, the tyre size 16 inches and above is today 10-12 million tyres for the country. And we believe it would be close to 17-18 million in the next 3-5 years, which is a significant growth in the segment. And this is the segment Michelin is going to focus on, 16 inches and above,” said Michelin India Managing Director Shantanu Deshpande.
“With better roads, distances have shortened and expectations of performance and safety heightened. For Michelin, the focus area is SUVs and big cars with tyres above 16 inches, and the brand is very excited about the prospect of offering high-quality Made-in-India Michelin tyres.”
Michelin has boosted its initial Rs 564 crore investment plan for its Chennai plant by over Rs 100 crore, to expand its total annual tyre production capacity to 54,000 tonnes, including those for PCR tyres. The company has been manufacturing tyres for trucks and buses from this plant since 2013, and supplies to both aftermarket and OEMs such as Tata Motors, Daimler and Ashok Leyland.
On Tuesday, the first set of Made-in-India passenger car tyres was unveiled, with a market launch planned for the first half of 2026. The initial product to be manufactured at the Chennai plant will be the Primacy 5. Michelin will also produce several of other popular tyre ranges in India, including LTX Trail ST, Pilot Sport 4 SUV, Pilot Sport 5.
The cumulative investment in the plant is close to Rs 2,800 crore. With the current domestic production of PCR tyres, Michelien will initially focus on the aftermarket. “Aftermarket will be our starting focus. But as the plant matures and as we go forward, OEM supply is something which is also under consideration,” Deshpande said.
Meanwhile, Michelin has a global Research & Development and Digital and IT Center in Pune. The R&D center, set up in 2014, employs 350 people to support the company’s global operations, develop new materials, new research methods, stimulation and digital tools to transform. They also collaborate with IITs and other popular institutions like ARAI and ITTAC. The IT Centre, set up in 2018 has 1,300 employees focusing on Artificial Intelligence and data transformation.
“The group is looking at India in a very strategic manner. We have our worldwide AI instrument, which is headquartered in Pune. We are doing a lot of R&D, but the AI center is only in Pune. We have backend services being supported from Pune. We are investing in the plant for passenger tyres. So more and more, the group is looking at India as a country that has a lot of potential in the future,” Silva noted.
According to Florent Chaussade, executive director of the Michelin India plant, the company uses 45% recycled materials in production. The aim is to increase this to 50% by 2030, with a long-term goal of manufacturing 100% sustainable tires by 2050. He also noted that the Chennai plant produced India's first 4-star rated tire in 2022.