China’s Tercelo Tire Group is taking a measured, niche-led approach to global expansion, with India’s fast-growing mining sector firmly in its sights.

At a time when global tyre markets are being reshaped by regulation, geopolitics and intense pricing pressure, China’s Tercelo Tire Group is pursuing a strategy that favours clarity over scale. Rather than chasing volumes across crowded segments, the company is focusing on specific markets and applications where long-term demand fundamentals are strongest.

Nowhere is this approach more evident than in India, where Tercelo is positioning itself squarely within the off-the-road (OTR) tyre segment, aligned with the country’s rapidly expanding mining and infrastructure ecosystem.

The Chinese company, part of the Fortune 500 company Wuchan Zhongda Chemical Group, is a nine-year-old tyre maker selling products under the Tercelo, Transmate, Superhawk, Yingba, Three-A and Rapid brands, among others. The company claims to have over USD 7.2 billion in annual operating revenue and growing.

In an exclusive interaction with Tyre Trends, Akash Gupta, Country Manager – India & Africa, Tercelo Tire Group, said, “We are very new in this segment. We can say we are a small baby (in India) right now. But we are entering the market with a very clear mindset – slow growth, strong quality focus and very specific targeting.”

For a Chinese tyre manufacturer, India is not the easiest market to enter. It is fiercely competitive, dominated by strong domestic brands and governed by increasingly strict trade and quality regulations. Yet, Gupta believes that these very challenges make India strategically compelling.

“India is a very big market for the tyre industry. People like economical tyres – affordable tyres. Historically, Chinese brands always had some presence because of price competitiveness. Even a 10 or 20 percent market share is very big in India,” he said.

However, that landscape has changed significantly over the past few years.

CHOOSING INDIA AMID REGULATION AND RESISTANCE

India’s tyre market has undergone a sharp regulatory shift, particularly in response to rising imports and the government’s push to strengthen domestic manufacturing. Anti-dumping duties, mandatory BIS certification and tighter customs scrutiny have fundamentally altered the playing field – especially for Chinese manufacturers.

“The government started anti-dumping because they are giving scope to local manufacturers. If you don’t protect them, it becomes very difficult,” Gupta explained.

As a result, entire segments are effectively closed to Chinese imports. “PCR, motorcycle and some other tyres – nobody can bring them from China now. So Chinese tyres are not coming into India in these segments,” Gupta said.

While tyres continue to enter India from countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Japan, Gupta dismisses suggestions that Chinese manufacturers can simply reroute shipments through third markets.

“It’s not possible. A lot of people tried Dubai, but it failed. The cost is very high. You send tyres to Dubai, then again to India – the margins simply don’t make sense,” he stated firmly.

Faced with these realities, Tercelo made a deliberate strategic decision. “That is why our focus is not TBR or PCR. Our focus is only OTR,” Gupta said.

Unlike passenger or truck tyres, OTR tyres cater to a specialised industrial customer base, are less price-elastic and are closely tied to capital-intensive sectors such as mining, construction and quarrying. For Tercelo, this segment offers a more stable entry point.

He said, “OTR is a growing sector in the Indian market. We have Coal India, Adani, Reliance – a lot of mining companies. And now the government is also encouraging many small companies to enter mining.”

RISING THROUGH COVID-19

Tercelo’s rise has been shaped by disruption. The company began its manufacturing journey in 2019 — just as the Covid-19 pandemic brought global industrial activity to a standstill.

“When Covid started, all the factories in China were shutting down. But what our company did was something very different,” Gupta recalled.

Instead of retreating, Tercelo expanded. “They bought four factories in China – two for TBR, one for OTR and one for PCR. These were very major factories,” he said.

Among them were Super Hawk and O’Green Group, established manufacturing facilities with strong domestic reputations. “We started from there,” Gupta added.

This bold move allowed Tercelo to build scale quickly once markets reopened. “Today, we are selling more than one million tyres every year – OTR, TBR and PCR combined,” he said.

The company has also structured its brand portfolio carefully to address different geographies and customer expectations. “Our premium brand is Transmate/Tercelo (PCR, TBR and OTR),” Gupta explained. “Then we have Routeck (TBR) for the mid-segment, which is an economical tyre.”

For highly price-sensitive markets, Tercelo operates distinct brands. “StepRising (TBR) and EcoSaver (TBR) are only for Africa. Africa market prefers cheap tyres – low price, low quality. That is the reality,” he said.

This segmentation, Gupta believes, is critical. “You cannot sell the same tyre in Europe, India and Africa with the same positioning. Every market has its own mindset,” he averred.

INDIA’S OTR OPPORTUNITY: MINING, INFRASTRUCTURE AND LONG-TERM DEMAND

India’s mining sector is undergoing a structural expansion, driven by rising energy demand, infrastructure development and policy reforms aimed at increasing private participation.

“The government has given a lot of tenders to small, small companies to participate in mining. We believe the mining business for the next five years is going to be very big,” Gupta said.

While large conglomerates continue to dominate, the emergence of smaller operators is creating opportunities for mid-segment OTR tyre suppliers – exactly where Tercelo wants to position itself.

“We are manufacturing from small OTR to giant OTR tyres. But in India, we see ourselves more in the mid-segment of giant OTR (16.00-25 to 12.00-24),” he said. These tyres serve large dumpers, loaders and haul trucks used in coal, iron ore and limestone mines. “Big vehicles used by companies like Adani, Reliance – that is where our focus is,” he explained.

Rather than chasing aggressive volumes, Tercelo is targeting measured penetration. “We are not trying to take a big share. We are trying to enter gradually,” Gupta reiterated. The numbers reflect this caution. “We are targeting maybe two or three percent of the market initially. In the next three years, my target is five percent. I don’t want anything more,” Gupta explained.

For the executive, this is a realistic and sustainable ambition. “We are only six years old,” he says. “There are many Chinese companies – Triangle Tires, Techking Tires, Advance, Maxam – they are veterans of 20, 30, even 40 years.”

Competing with them requires patience. “Quality, consistency and service – that is how we will succeed,” he added.

REGULATORY CONTRADICTIONS AND MARKET REALITIES

Despite his pragmatic outlook, Gupta does not shy away from critiquing India’s regulatory inconsistencies, particularly in the TBR segment.

“The government has anti-dumping, but at the same time, some Chinese companies are getting BIS. Companies like Sailun, Jetsea and Double Coin – they have BIS (TBR),” he pointed out.

As a result, these brands are able to sell significant volumes. “They are selling 20,000–30,000 tyres every year, sometimes more,” Gupta revealed. For him, this creates mixed signals. He argued, “If your rules are rules, then stick to them. Why give loopholes?”

He adds that such decisions also affect domestic manufacturers. “Somehow, you are taking market away from MRF, Apollo Tyres and JK Tyre also. This feels negative,” he said.

These contradictions reinforce Tercelo’s conservative India strategy. “That is why we don’t want to get into grey areas. OTR is clean, focused and aligned with India’s growth story,” he explained.

AFRICA AND EMERGING MARKETS: VOLUME THROUGH PRICE

While India is a story of regulation and selective opportunity, Africa represents a completely different dynamic – one dominated by price sensitivity and limited technical awareness.

“I worked in Africa for almost 20 years. I know the market very well,” Gupta recalled. According to him, African customers prioritise upfront cost above all else. “They don’t want to invest a lot of money on premium tyres because their awareness is very little,” he explained.

Basic practices such as load management and tyre pressure maintenance are often ignored. “They don’t know how to drive vehicles properly, how to maintain air pressure – it’s just load and run,” Gupta said.

Premium tyres do have a niche audience. “If transporters are Indian or British, they understand quality. But local African customers want a USD 100 tyre. That is enough for them,” he said.

This lack of maintenance awareness drives high replacement demand – a reality Gupta acknowledged candidly. “Replacement is very high everywhere – India, Africa, even some parts of Asia. And trust me, all manufacturers love this problem,” he said.

He explained with disarming honesty that if customers started maintaining tyres properly, checking pressure, loading correctly, then the replacement market will reduce and business will go down. “And Frankly speaking, nobody wants that,” he said.

A MEASURED VISION FOR THE ROAD AHEAD

Unlike many new entrants who promise aggressive expansion, Tercelo’s leadership is deliberately cautious in its outlook. He averred, “We are not chasing big numbers. We are chasing stability.”

In India, that means aligning closely with mining growth, building credibility with fleet operators and gradually expanding product acceptance.

He reiterated that while the competition is severe, it is important to acknowledge that Tercelo Tire started in 2019. “Six years is nothing in this industry,” he pointed out.

Yet, Gupta remains confident that discipline will pay off. “If we maintain quality, service and pricing balance, five percent market share is more than enough for us,” said an optimistic Gupta.

As global tyre markets continue to fragment and regional strategies become increasingly important, Tercelo’s approach is looking at an alternative playbook strategy for India – focusing on a niche before building up to a larger play.

“We are starting slowly. But slow growth with the right direction is always better than fast growth with no control,” Gupta concluded. 

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As commercial vehicle operators face mounting pressure from regulations, rising costs and the shift to electric power, Webfleet, a subsidiary of Bridgestone, is focusing on turning ever-growing volumes of vehicle data into practical recommendations that improve performance and ease the daily burden on fleet managers.

Founded in Leipzig in 1999 as one of the world’s first web-based fleet management platforms, Webfleet has grown from a pioneering software-as-a-service (SaaS) start-up to Europe’s leading solution and a core part of Bridgestone’s global offering. Today it serves drivers across more than 180 countries with AI-powered insights, electric-vehicle tools and sustainability data that turn complex operations into clearer, more efficient decisions.

In an exclusive interaction with Tyre Trends, Marc Notenboom, Director of Product Management at Webfleet, shares how the company has watched the fleet-management sector evolve over more than a quarter of a century. Interestingly, it was just last year the company marked its 25th anniversary.

From its inception, Webfleet has seen the volume of available data explode, yet the real challenge remains converting that information into meaningful guidance.

“Fleets give you more data but not more insights, which continues to be a challenge. Because of new regulations, new sensors, increasing competition and customer demands, we end up generating more data. We also have access to more data, which is growing exponentially. And then comes the real question, how do you make sense of that data?” Notenboom observed.

Marc Notenboom, Director of Product Management, Webfleet

Webfleet obtains its information through black-box devices installed in vehicles, sensors or direct connections to original-equipment manufacturers. This includes telematics, GPS, video, driver behaviour and vehicle diagnostics, among others. The company then processes that stream to deliver fleet-management services.

The next step, he explained, is moving beyond retrospective analysis. “Insights tell you what happened and why it happened, perhaps, but not what you need to do to improve your performance. That is what we are doing now with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). For example, we analyse data, see if patterns are different or you have anomalies in your data to predict what is happening or what is going wrong. And then we also use AI to analyse our data to see how you are performing, for instance, against competition. And then give customers suggestions on how to improve on certain topics like fuel consumption or driver safety,” he said.

The industry, in Webfleet’s view, is therefore evolving from raw data collection towards insights, recommendations and concrete actions.

SHARED PRESSURES ACROSS DIVERSE FLEETS

Webfleet serves a wide spectrum of customers, from large transport and logistics operators to small fleets of one or two vehicles, service-and-maintenance businesses and last-mile delivery companies.

Each customer faces distinct operational issues, yet common themes emerge. “What they all have in common is that the amount of data and the pressure to enhance their performance is increasing a lot. And then there is the regulatory compliance pressures as well,” said Notenboom.

Performance, in this context, covers delivery times, cost per kilometre, driver wages, safety and fuel consumption – metrics that matter differently according to the sector, but all that demand continuous improvement.

One of Europe’s most persistent difficulties is the shortage of skilled drivers, which has led to greater reliance on migrant workers whose experience of road conditions may vary widely between countries.

Webfleet addresses part of this challenge through tools such as OptiDrive, which shows fleet managers how individual drivers perform on fuel use and safety. Language barriers are tackled with automatic translation features built into the driver’s work app or tablet.

“They can interact with their fleet manager in their own language, and the fleet manager can also interact back in their own language,” explained Notenboom. The same interface delivers active coaching: if a driver exceeds the speed limit, for example, an immediate warning appears. These software-based interventions help maintain standards without requiring constant direct supervision.

MEASURABLE GAINS AND EV TRANSITION

Notenboom agrees that customers understandably scrutinise the return on any additional technology cost. He reported that Webfleet users typically achieve efficiency improvements of up to 15 percent, though results depend heavily on the starting point. This ranges from fuel savings, faster turnaround, downtime reduction or improved driver behaviour, among others.

“If a company is already really good at saving fuel, then adding tools and driver coaching and technology might not change a lot. At the same time, even if it’s a small improvement, especially with the high fuel prices today, it could already translate to a lot of savings,” averred Notenboom.

The arrival of electric trucks introduces a fresh set of complexities. Research indicates that driver behaviour exerts an even greater influence on energy consumption in electric vehicles than in conventional combustion models. Smooth operation becomes critical to range, while decisions about when and where to charge add further layers of planning. Webfleet supports the transition by helping managers determine the right vehicle for each duty cycle.

“If you do long-distance transport, electric trucks are perhaps not the best option. But if you do inner-city deliveries, then electric trucks become an interesting option. And trying to find out where the optimum is, when to use Internal Combustion Engine-vehicles, where to use electric vehicles, that is also a part where we can help the fleet manager to make that decision,” he said.

On the technology package itself, every Webfleet customer receives the software platform. Hardware can be selected according to need, or in some cases, dispensed with entirely through the OEM.connect service (access vehicle data directly from OEMs via APIs), without installing extra hardware that draws data directly from the vehicle manufacturer.

“A number of customers are preferring to use OEM.connect. So that is a solution where we don’t install hardware but take the data directly from the OEM offerings,” he explained. On the other hand, where original-equipment data fall short, Webfleet’s own devices remain available.

PRIVACY, BENCHMARKING AND THE ROAD AHEAD

Growing data volumes inevitably raise questions of privacy and regulatory compliance. Webfleet adheres strictly to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – a strict European Union (EU) law that protects information privacy and data rights for individuals in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA) – requirements.

Certain categories of information can be processed only with explicit customer permission, and for benchmarking purposes, the company anonymises data so that individual vehicles or fleets cannot be identified.

A recent example is Webfleet’s Commercial Trip Monitor, which aggregates anonymised information across the entire customer base to generate comparative insights.

Looking three to five years ahead, Notenboom identified three principal challenges for the commercial-vehicle industry: the practical difficulties of electrification, the continuing shortage of drivers (with autonomous vehicles potentially addressing certain use cases over a longer horizon) and relentless competitive pressure to deliver higher quality service at lower cost.

He regards these same pressures as sources of opportunity for those able to convert them into advantage.

Interestingly, he shared that Webfleet itself continues to evaluate new markets beyond its established presence in Europe, South Africa, South America and Australia. Bridgestone’s ownership of the US-focused Azuga platform complements the portfolio, while Asia-Pacific, including India, remains under active review even if no immediate plans have been confirmed.

As Notenboom puts it, the goal is not to simply collect more information but to translate that information into clearer decisions that keep vehicles productive, drivers safer and costs under control – regardless of whether the powertrain is diesel or electric.

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Vaculug has released VMS Pro Max, the next generation of its fleet management application. The product, developed over a three-year period, pairs a redesigned interface with AI-enhanced software intended to make commercial fleet management faster and more intelligent. The app is now available for download through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

The upgraded platform offers clear, real-time access to tyre and vehicle data, accelerates background report uploads to reduce driver time and allows measuring tools to be connected for automatic tread depth capture. It also incorporates an embedded VAN Driver Guide and can instantly flag vehicles left uninspected across 30, 60 or 90 days. Existing users must sync all pending inspections and confirm cloud upload before updating to prevent data loss.

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The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. and dotData, Inc. have announced joint development an AI agent to help engineers form hypotheses, interpret findings and make decisions in manufacturing R&D. Before full deployment, the initiative will validate the agent's required capabilities and technical feasibility.

The solution combines technical documents such as design specifications and experimental reports with engineers' accumulated expertise and features extracted from measurement data via dotData's Signal Intelligence technology. It will provide insights tailored to each project's objectives, circumstances and constraints.

The agent is not meant to produce a single correct answer. Operating in a human-in-the-loop framework where engineers retain decision-making authority, it will present multiple possibilities, perspectives and risks to broaden thinking and support professional development.

Manufacturing R&D generates diverse data through experiments, simulations, production and evaluation. Developing hypotheses requires specialised knowledge and context. Since new technology R&D rarely has one predetermined answer, abductive reasoning plays a key role. AI can add value by using data and organisational knowledge to widen engineers' perspectives rather than replace judgment.

The agent will explore measurement and experimental data patterns beyond factors engineers previously identified, combining quantitative insights with design documents and expert knowledge to reveal difficult-to-spot relationships. It will offer input from materials, design, analysis, production and evaluation perspectives, challenge existing hypotheses and raise questions about alternative interpretations and conditions. Engineers will then test hypotheses and feed results back into further dialogue, guiding Signal Intelligence processes so non-specialists can explore data features as needed.

Yokohama Rubber has advanced HAICoLab since 2020, using dotData as a foundational technology in tyre design and rubber mixing. This joint development expands those efforts, with engineers interpreting and evaluating the agent's suggestions using their own expertise rather than accepting them unquestioningly. The companies aim to transform R&D processes while strengthening engineers' creativity and judgment, establishing a new model for human-AI collaboration in manufacturing R&D.

Motoji Fujita, Head of Research & Advanced Development Division, The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., said, “Since 2020, we have conducted research and development under the HAICoLab framework, drawing on the complementary strengths of people and AI to create a collaborative environment. We believe AI agents will give engineers access to perspectives beyond their own experience and enable them to evaluate hypotheses from multiple angles. Through this development initiative, we aim to advance our R&D capabilities while supporting the continued growth of our engineers.”

Ryohei Fujimaki, CEO, dotData, Inc., said, “Success in manufacturing R&D depends heavily on an organisation’s ability to connect its proprietary data and knowledge with AI. The quantitative context generated from data through automated Signal Intelligence provides a foundation for AI agents to engage engineers in practical, data-driven discussions. Together with Yokohama Rubber, which has many years of experience in advanced data utilisation, we intend to establish standards for using AI in highly specialised business domains.”

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Bridgestone Aircraft Tire (Europe), a Bridgestone Corporation subsidiary, has announced the deployment of its ‘easytrack’ tyre management system at SR Technics Spain SAU, the tyre and wheel maintenance hub of global maintenance, repair & overhaul (MRO) provider SR Technics. The scalable digital platform is accessible on desktop and mobile devices.

Designed for airlines and MROs, ‘easytrack’ manages inbound and outbound tyre and wheel flows across single- or multi-site operations. It delivers real-time identification, tracking and documentation throughout each asset’s lifecycle. The project follows the solution’s first airline implementation in 2025, becoming its second customer rollout and first MRO application.

MRO providers handle large tyre and wheel volumes for multiple airlines, complicating operations. ‘easytrack’ simplifies asset management and improves traceability, accuracy, safety and productivity. At SR Technics Spain SAU, it digitalised paper-based processes, cutting processing time by 45 percent, reducing data-entry and identification errors and improving flow management across Palma de Mallorca and Madrid.

From left: David Sautois, ‘easytrack’ Product Manager, Bridgestone Aircraft Tire (Europe) S.A.; Antonio Colella, General Manager, SR Technics Spain SAU; Jean-Philippe Minet, Managing Director, Bridgestone Aircraft Tire (Europe) S.A.; Eugenie Baradzina, Commercial Director, SR Technics Spain SAU.

The results stem from a Bridgestone and SR Technics Spain SAU co-creation initiative built on long-standing partnership. ‘easytrack’ was adapted to support tyre and wheel combinations for the hub’s wheel and brake operations. Bridgestone’s expansion of airline and MRO solutions aligns with its E8 Commitment, emphasising efficiency and ecology.

Antonio Colella, General Manager, SR Technics Spain SAU, said, "The successful implementation of easytrack is a significant achievement for SR Technics Spain SAU and our teams in Mallorca and Madrid. From the very beginning, the collaboration with Bridgestone was built on trust, openness and a shared vision for innovation. Together, we have developed a solution that not only improves efficiency and traceability but also creates lasting value for our operations. We are proud to be the first MRO in the world to adopt this technology and look forward to continuing this journey with Bridgestone Corporation.”

Jean-Philippe Minet, Managing Director, Bridgestone Aircraft Tire Europe, said, “I’d like to thank SR Technics for their trust and another fruitful collaboration with Bridgestone. What the teams have jointly achieved is remarkable: co-creating through efficient teamwork and customising the Bridgestone easytrack application to digitise SR Technics tyre and wheel tracking operations. This is a brilliant example of how Bridgestone amplifies the value created at our partners.”

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