Bridgestone to unveil market expansion strategy to push next 10 years of growth in India

Bridgestone India prepares 10-year strategy for market expansion, focusing on growth and investments in premium tyre segment.

Bridgestone India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, Japan, is currently preparing a 10-year strategy to spearhead market expansions across India.

“India has been identified as a growth market and focus market for Bridgestone globally,” Bridgestone India, Chief Commercial Officer, Rajarshi Moitra told The Hindu. “We are working on a new business strategy that will spearhead the next orbit of our growth in the country. Our new India strategy for 10 years will kick in from calendar 2025,” he said.

According to Mr. Moitra, India is the fastest growing and stable market for Bridgestone and the company has made strong investments here in the last over 25 years, including the latest chunk of $300 million it announced. “The new strategy will be aimed at building the market further and to continue to be a strong player in the premium tyre segment in the country. The strategy will also address India’s positioning in the global market for Bridgestone,” he added.

On the market scenario, Mr. Moitra said post the pandemic, Bridgestone had seen robust growth in India. The company’s revenue grew 9% year-on-year during calendar 2023.

However, the industry in general saw subdued sales volumes in the last couple of quarters.

In the first quarter of CY24, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) segment had done a “low single-digit”, while the after-market segment had been flattish, he said.

“In the short term, the industry is seeing some pressure. But long-term outlook is quite bullish as the macro economic scenario continues to be quite positive in terms of GDP growth and government investment,” he said.