t is the only tyre company in India manufacturing the complete range of tyres — Truck/ Bus Radial

(TBR ), Truck Bus Bias (TBB), Light Truck Radial (LTR), Passenger Car Radial (PCR), Motorcycle and
others. The Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30 range of aircraft is fitted with tyres of this company.
They are also the first choice in the replacement market, as its R&D policy is focused on developing tyres
that can withstand Indian road conditions in all terrains and climates.
MRF’s overseas offices are present in Dubai, Vietnam and Australia, and it exports its products to about 65
countries around the world. It has also won the CAPEXIL Award.
MRF was the first tyre company in India to reach a turnover of ₹5,000 crores. The problem faced by tyre
companies in general is volatility of raw material prices. The surge in the availability of cheap and inferior
Chinese tyres has also affected the market to some extent. Despite this, MRF has done well. This year, in a
first for an Indian company, MRF’s stock price almost touched ₹75,000 ( ₹10 paid up)! The total income
for 2016-17 is claimed to be over ₹15,000 crore.
Listening to customers
The company follows a policy of listening to customers before designing new products or improving an
existing one. This is how it excels in the marketing segment, through strategic restructuring.
This is supported by its belief that every product should create its own profit and not piggyback on the
visibility of others. This is also one of the reasons it discourages discounts.
R&D labs
All R&D labs are centrally coordinated, with a lab for natural rubber at Kottayam. Quality of the material
is constantly checked, even after the product release. Tyres are tested on different road surfaces and race
tracks and at varying speeds before being released in the market. Recently, the company’s R&D team
developed low Rolling Resistance (RR) tyres.
All nine MRF factories have the internationally recognised Quality Management System certification
TS16949/ISO9001. The tyres conform to European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation (ETRTO)
standards, Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
MRF has been voted as the Most Trusted Tyre Company in India by the TNS 2006 global CSR study. It
has also won the Ford World Excellence silver award, and the JD Power tyre satisfaction survey across all
four categories — appearance, durability, traction/ handling and ride — 12 times in 16 years!
Showrooms and advertising
MRF approaches advertising and promotion of its products in a systematic and well-planned manner. To a
great extent, promotion is driven by developing personal, one-on-one contact with the people whose
livelihood is linked with the product — like truck drivers.
This enables the firm to provide effective after-sales service and customer care. Apart from this, the print
media, outdoor hoardings, the internet and mailers are utilised to keep the product in the public eye.
The Indian firm has its own exclusive showrooms and prefers to deal through its own authorised dealers
(its 3,000-strong dealer network is one of its greatest assets) to ensure quality and authenticity. While its
products are not available through unauthorised web sites, it recently started its own e-commerce service to
keep up with the times.
Extra activities
MRF has associated itself with cricket through Pace Foundation that has trained many fast bowlers. In fact,
MRF Tyres has been confirmed as a Global Partner for ICC events from 2016-20. It is also involved with
racing, karting, rallying and motocross events.
Its CSR initiatives include providing education to children in rural areas, setting up infrastructure facilities
in schools, conducting general health camps, medical camps and nutrition awareness programmes,
undertaking tree plantation drives; and spreading environmental awareness.
Through the MRF Institute for Driver Development, training is imparted to underprivileged youngsters to
become commercial drivers; and young children are trained in cricket (through its Pace Foundation) and
other sports like table tennis and tennis.
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BizWiz #80

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V.V. RAMANAN
Videos
Start-up Fundas: The final recap
A short summary of all that was explained in the last nine videos

START UP FUNDAS WITH CHANDU NAIR

Creating value proposition

START UP FUNDAS WITH CHANDU NAIR

The importance of networking

START UP FUNDAS WITH CHANDU NAIR

Crafting a pitch for the investors

START UP FUNDAS WITH CHANDU NAIR
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