Six years after it entered into its first Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) partnership in Sri Lanka, CEAT Kelani Holdings has grown into a contributor of value addition to the country’s burgeoning automobile assembly industry.
Locally-manufactured CEAT tyres are now original equipment in 11 brands of vehicles rolling off assembly lines in Sri Lanka, ranging from Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), cars, buses, lorries, pick-up trucks, motorcycles and scooters, a media release from the company stated.
These tyres, many of them designed precisely to vehicle manufacturer specifications, fit over 30 models of vehicles, including 16 bus models and five models of motorcycles now assembled in Sri Lanka. CEAT Kelani supplies over 150,000 Original Equipment (OE) tyres annually to the local vehicle assembly industry covering over 90 percent of vehicles assembled in Sri Lanka, and the OE segment accounts for 12 percent of the CEAT branded tyres sold in the domestic market.
CEAT Kelani, Chief Operating Officer Shamal Gunawardene said, “These partnerships are based on stringent evaluations of our tyres by experts and are based on CEAT’s ability to satisfy the technical requirements of each type of vehicle.”
CEAT Kelani’s OE partnership for the Hyundai Grand i10 assembled in Sri Lanka in particular, represents a milestone for the brand.
