Interview – Mr. Bing Lin-Wu, Marketing & Retail Sales Head, Maxxis Tyres India

Maxxis India is a sub-company of Maxxis Group, the world’s fastest growing tyre company. Maxxis had set up their manufacturing unit for the Indian market last year and have aggressive plans to become the most preferred OEM partner to the Indian automobile companies. This year, Maxxis rolled-out their first consignment from its Sanand plant and is actively working towards becoming India’s most preferred OEM partner.  The facility is spread across a massive 106 acres and has a capacity to produce around 20,000 tyres and 40,000 tubes per day. Maxxis currently serves as an OEM tyre supplier to Honda (Two-wheelers), Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra, Tata and Jeep in India. Maxxis Rubber India has been selected as the original equipment tyre supplier to India’s number one selling model, Honda Activa, since 2015.

We caught-up with Maxxis Tyres spokesperson, Bing Lin Wu, Marketing and Retail Sales Head of Maxxis India who shared the companies plans for the Indian market.

1. What are your plans for the India market and how your manufacturing plant will help achieve this goal?

Indian Tyre market is witnessing phenomenal growth owing to the increasing requirement from auto manufacturers, OEM’s, and customers.To capitalise on this growing opportunity, Maxxis Tyres has invested over $400 million in setting up the manufacturing plant in Sanand, Gujarat. We are committed to Government of India’s Make in India initiative and our robust manufacturing facility with new age technology will harness Maxxis group’s production excellence. Our target is to become India’s preferred tyre company and capture a market share of at least 15% of India’s two-wheeler tyre market by 2023.

The Sanand facility is spread across a massive 106 acres and has a capacity to produce around 20,000 tyres and 40,000 tubes per day. Apart from catering to the domestic tyre market, the product portfolio from the Sanand facility will be exported to South Asia and will further expand to Africa and Middle East countries in the coming years.

India market will play a vital role in achieving Maxxis’s global vision to become one of the top 5 tyre manufactures in the world by 2026 and we plan to set up 5 more plants in the country which will also cater to the 4-wheeler tyres market.

2. What is your projection for the India market and how do you plan to capitalise on this opportunity?

The need for mobility is immense in India, and the country is amongst the fastest developing economies in the world. India’s two wheeler industry has crossed the 20 million sales milestone this year and it is further expected to increase considerably.The tyre market for OE is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.48% from 2016 to 2021 and will reach a market size of Rs. 2,074-2,423 billion by 2026, thereby opening a plethora of opportunities for OEM players. Looking at the current conducive environment, we at Maxxis strive to create and deliver the highest quality products and services to both B2B and B2C customers.

Presently, we work as an OEM partner for India’s most loved two-wheeler brand Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India Limited. We are exploring newer alliances with other OEM players and our endeavour is to become the most preferred partner of choice in the two-wheeler segment for both motorcycles and scooters.

Furthermore, the replacement market in India is quite big and offers great prospects for us. We are trying to create a robust infrastructure of dealers through which we can reach out to the potential customers. Within a short span of 12 months, we have grown our footprint in the market with 1000+ dealers and for next year our target will be to generate sales from the already on-boarded dealerships and continue new appointments at a steady pace.

3. What have been your accomplishments so far?

In more than 2 years now, Maxxis is moving rapidly to capture the top of mind space for Indian OEM players. First and major accomplishment has been that we started operations from our first manufacturing plant at Sanand in March, 2018 and producing tyres in full throttle to achieve our ambitious target of selling 1 million tyres to our OEM partners by end of this year.

We had another landmark moment in August as we rolled out the first ‘Made in India’ consignment delivery to our long-standing partners Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India. The first tyre model with 100% local manufacturing was the 90/100-10 M6000 for Honda Activa 5G and Activai.

We also focused on developing a streamline set-up of dealers across India with a holistic Pan India footprint to achieve our target. Today we have expanded our reach to 325 cities and have 1000+ dealers onboard within a short span of one year.

Furthermore, Maxxis lays great emphasis on digitisation and business analytics and we have successfully set up the dealer locator feature on our website that directs the customer to their nearest Maxxis dealership and also enables them to call or get directions to the nearest dealer via Google navigation from the listing on the site. Customers can visit https://maxxistyres.in/dealer-locator/ to locate Maxxis tyre dealers using their GPS location or by selecting their state and city.

4. What are your Product offerings?

Maxxis is one of the world’s fastest growing tyre brands and the youngest to be amongst the top 10 tyre companies, globally.The company’s global product portfolio includes tyres for passenger cars, two-wheelers, light trucks, trucks, buses, ATV’s and agricultural & industrial vehicles.

The India facility is currently dedicated to manufacturing of two-wheeler tyres and tubes.At present, we have an OE partnership with Honda for Activa scooters. For the replacement market, a significant range of Maxxis tyres are suited for popular models such as Bajaj (Discover), Hero (HF-Deluxe, Splendor I-Smart, Glamour, Duet, Destini, Passion, Maestro), Honda (Activa, CB Shine, Aviator, Dream Yuga), Suzuki (Access, Hayate, Burgman), Mahindra (Gusto, Centuro), TVS (Jupiter, Wego , Star City ,Victor), Piaggio (Vespa), Yamaha (Ray, Fascino , Saluto) and many others.

5. How does Maxxis score over its nearest competition brand in terms of quality and features?

Maxxis is the tyre for the next generation with a strong customer first approach. We have the highest quality product offering which is a combination of superior raw material and world-class technology. Being a truly global company, we are focusing on delivering consistency in our products across all countries be it quality, technology and safety.

With extensive investments in research and development, Maxxis has proficiency in making tyres for all segments. Through our comprehensive market analysis, we have developed the highest quality of tyres suitable for Indian roads.For instance, Maxxis tyres are made with high proportions of natural rubber which offers instant traction, better grip and ultimately superior safety, riding comfort and confidence.
We have utmost confidence in the quality of all our products and hence are offering the best schemes and transparent claim resolution to our customers, including the industry-best 5+1 unconditional warranty with Maxxis 2-wheeler tyres.We want to offer our customers a seamless and easy replacement service which no other brand is offering right now.

Our idea is to build customer trust and hence, we provide a hassle free ‘no questions asked’ replacement covering both manufacturing and non-manufacturing defects that cause the tyres to become unserviceable. This warranty is valid for five years from the date of manufacture.Another aspect that is unique to our policy is that we provide ‘free of cost’ tyrereplacement covering both manufacturing and non-manufacturing defects, valid for 1 year from the date of purchase. For more details and to register their tyres, customers can visit us our website – https://maxxistyres.in

6. What are your expansion plans for the India market?

With over five decades of rich global experience in manufacturing world-class tyres, Maxxis has maintained very strong manufacturing guidelines across 180 countries. Currently, we are present in 6 continents with 21 manufacturing plants and 5 R&D Centres worldwide.
In India, we feel that the future demand will come from the commuter segment bikes with 150~200cc; 350cc as young bike enthusiasts and professionals prefer to drive a 200cc bike that gives great performance and mileage. With our global expertise and technical prowess, Maxxis India too will be entering higher segments as soon as we see a significant growth opportunity in the segment. We are closely monitoring the India market and steadily coming up with solutions that India wants. With our extensive product portfolio, we are already catering to users of all segments from across age groups, globally. From electric scooters in East Asia to super sports bikes in Europe, Maxxis tyres have become the preferred choice for the users.With our technological prowess and already established global portfolio, we are ready to cater to the demands no matter what direction India’s 2-wheeler industry takes.

We have plans to set up 5 more plants in India which will also cater to the 4-wheeler tyres market. Apart from catering to the domestic tyre market, the product portfolio from the Sanand facility will be exported to South Asia and will further expand to Africa and Middle East countries in the coming years.

 

Mr. Bing-Lin Wu has been associated with Maxxis, one of the top 10 global tyre brands,for over 3 years. He is currently heading the Sales and Marketing division at Maxxis Tyres’India operations. He started his journey with Maxxis India as a General Manager (Marketing), where he was responsible for spearheading the company’s growth in the two-wheeler segment. His vision is to create a robust dealership network across India and make Maxxis, India’s most preferred OEM partner for the automobile industry. Prior to joining Maxxis, Mr. Bing was associated with HTC, Rescon Partners and GfK under various executive leadership roles. Mr. Bing has studied Business Administration and Management from Harbin Institute of Technology and holds a bachelor degree in Marketing from National Taiwan University.