Tech major Dyson leads the charge of investments in the Indian market as Make in India makes its automotive mark.
Tyremarket.com raises UK funds
Bengaluru-based online tyre retailer Tyremarket.com has raised around $500,000 from UK-based online tyre retailer Blackcircles.com's founder Michael Welch.
Tyremarket is headed by former Siemens Healthcare executive Sanjeev Agrawal, who is co-founder and CEO.
Tyremarket, which was started in 2015, operates a lean business model similar to Blackcircles. It is an online marketplace for supplying tyres to vehicle segments like bicycles, two-wheelers, passenger cars, commercial vehicles, tractors, off-roaders, industrial and heavy vehicles. It also provides tyre replacement and other tyre related services and products.
Agrawal said: “Our strategy of providing more tyre choices, installation partners and great value is starting to pay real dividends. We have created a platform from which we can invest to become the leading online platform for tyre business in India.”
Welch, who is also the strategic advisor to Tyremarket, said: “Tyremarket has an opportunity to be the market leader for tyres in India. Its team, vision and ambition are second to none.”
Dyson to invest in Indian market
UK-based technology firm Dyson, which forayed into the Indian market recently, would be investing more than Rs 1,200 crore ($187.5 million) in the next five years as it expects the country to be among its top markets over the next few years. Jake Dyson, chief engineer and member of Dyson Board, said: “We want to help reduce pollution. All markets need these products. But the performance of our products makes us think we are ready for the Indian market.
“We really see India as being the next China [for us]. It is similar in size and scale. We have understood how to start the business in a huge country based on how we did it in China. India is very important for us, so we want to get it right. We expect it to be one of our top markets in the next few years.”
The company would be setting up 20 stores in next five years. The products would also be available online through the company website and Amazon.in.
He added: “We already have a team of 150 engineers in the last 18 months, doing R&D and influencing our design from the feedback from Indian people.” The company is also working on adding an electric car to its portfolio by 2021.
India-made cars in demand in the UK
British demand for India-made cars rose last year, while demand in India for cars made in the UK fell sharply during the same period as British carmakers shifted more assembly operations to India. British demand for India-made cars has long outpaced exports to India, and 2017 was no exception as more than 34,000 new cars from India were registered in the UK, according to the figures published by industry body SMMT.
While exports to Asia grew strongly (exceeding 10 per cent), car production in the UK fell 3 per cent in 2017 - the first decline in eight years, largely driven by a fall in domestic demand. The SMMT attributed the fall to ongoing Brexit uncertainty and concerns around the government's future policy on diesel vehicles, following plans to ban the sale of cars with conventional combustion engines by 2040.
Mike Hawes, CEO, SMMT said that while engagement with government had been positive, a lack of clarity around Brexit and the political and economic impact was affecting buying patterns as well as confusion around government policies on diesel cars.
He added that while it is important to maintain the benefits we currently enjoy, it is equally important that Britain maintained access to the beneficial trading relations that the EU had established with countries across the world.
