CEAT Limited (formerly, Cavi Elettrici e Affini Torino)[1][2][3] is an Indian multinational tyre manufacturing company owned by the RPG Group. It was established in 1924 in Turin, Italy. It has a presence in global markets. CEAT produces over 165 million tyres a year and manufactures tyres for passenger cars, two-wheelers, trucks and buses, light commercial vehicles, earth-movers, forklifts, tractors, trailers, and auto-rickshaws. The current capacity of CEAT tyres' plants is over 800 tonnes per day.[4] The company has manufacturing plants in Halol (Gujarat),[5] Butibori, Nagpur (Maharashtra),[6] Bhandup, Mumbai (Maharashtra), Nashik (Maharashtra),[7] Ambernath (Maharashtra),[8] and Chennai (Tamilnadu).[9]

CEAT Limited
FormerlyCavi Elettrici e Affini Torino
Company typePublic
IndustryTyres & Tubes
Founded1924; 100 years ago (1924), in Turin, Italy
FoundersVirginio Bruni Tedeschi
HeadquartersWorli, Mumbai, India
Key people
Harsh Goenka (Chairman)
Anant Goenka (Vice Chairman)
Arnab Banerjee (MD & CEO)
RevenueIncrease 11,963 crore (US$1.4 billion) (2024)
Increase 894 crore (US$110 million) (2024)
Increase 635 crore (US$76 million) (2024)
Total assetsIncrease 9,994 crore (US$1.2 billion) (2024)
Total equityIncrease 4,052 crore (US$490 million) (2024)
Number of employees
~8,000
ParentRPG Group
Websiteceat.com

History

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Ceat tires at a tractor in Belgium

The company was founded as Cavi Elettrici e Affini Torino (Electrical Cables and Allied Products of Turin) by Virginio Bruni Tedeschi in 1924, in Turin, Italy.[10] On 10 March 1958, the company was incorporated as CEAT Tyres of India, in Mumbai. Initially, the company collaborated with the Tata Group.[11] In 1972, the company set up a research and development unit at Bhandup. In 1981, Deccan Fibre Glass Limited was merged with the company.[12][13]

In 1980, Alberto, son of Virginio, sold the Cavi Elettrici e Affini Torino to investment firm SOFIT, which went on to cut jobs. Oweing to it, in 1981, the company failed in Italy and Pirelli purchased the right to the CEAT name, which it sold to RPG Group in 1983.[14]

In 1982, RPG Group acquired the company, and in 1990, the company was renamed as CEAT.[11] In 1993, the company collaborated with Yokohama Rubber Company, to manufacture radial tyres at their Nashik unit.[15] In 1999, CEAT formed a joint-venture, named as CEAT Kelani, with Asia MotorWorks (AMW) and Kelani Tyres, to manufacture and market[16] CEAT tyres in Sri Lanka. in 2006, CEAT Kelani commissioned their first Sri Lanka–based radial-tyre manufacturing unit in Kalutara.[15] In 2009, AMW exited the joint-venture.[17]In 2020, a new radial tyre factory was set up near Chennai with the initial investment of INR 14000 crore. The factory produces and supplies passenger car radial and two-wheeler radial tyres.[18] The company exports across Asia, America and Europe.[19]

Products

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CEAT manufactures tyres[20] for various types of vehicles like heavy commercial vehicles, light commercial vehicle, off-highway tyres, passenger cars, tractors, motorcycles and scooters, cycles and SUVs. It exports Asia.[11]Under the luxury segment in India, CEAT's products include the high performance CEAT SportDrive and CEAT SportDrive SUV that allows for an enhanced control and more comfort.[21]For motorcycles, CEAT's SportRad tyre focuses on high speed. The CrossRad tyre, on the other hand, facilitates riding in diverse terrains.[22] The SecuraDrive range serves the premium hatchback and Sedan categories; and the SecuraDrive SUV serves the compact SUV segment.[23] In 2022, CEAT launched an all-terrain tyres range called CrossDrive for SUVs.[24]

CEAT's custom-built tyres were used in the sci-fi action film Kalki 2898AD for the futurist 6-tonne car Bujji.[25]

Sponsorships and Events

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In 2024, CEAT partnered with German football club Bayer 04 Leverkusen and became the official tyre partner for the next two seasons, until 2026.[26] CEAT is the title Sponsor for the Indian Supercross Racing League (ISRL) which brings riders from all over the world together to compete in a variety of formats and categories.[27] CEAT organised the Cricket Rating Awards in 2023 and awarded domestic and international cricket players (both male and female). The awards were given based on the CEAT cricket rating in June 2022-May 2023.[28]

CEAT is the bat sponsor of cricketers, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer,[29] Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur.[30][31] Currently CEAT sponsors the strategic-timeout for the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Women's Premier League (WPL).[32]

CEAT also launched an off road training program, called 'Enduro' that aimed to train and improve the riding skills of enthusiasts who would want to participate in competitions.[33]

Deming Prize

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The company is the first tyre company to win the Deming Prize (awarded in 2023)[34]

Awards

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  • Sword of Honor award by British Safety Council (Awarded to Chennai and Ambernath plant)[35]
  • Lighthouse Certification by World Economic Forum (awarded to Halol plant)[36]

Anti competition practices

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In April 2022, the Competition Commission of India raided the headquarters of CEAT along with other tyre companies like Apollo Tyres, MRF (Madras Rubber Factory) and Continental Tyres at multiple locations. Earlier in February the antitrust watch dog had released a statement about fining these tyre companies a total of Rs 1788 crores (of which CEAT fined Rs 252.16 cr.) for sharing price sensitive information among themselves to manage their cartelization of tyre prices for supplies to the public transport corporation of Haryana state. Earlier the All India Tyre Dealers Federation had complained to the Ministry of corporate affairs about this cartelization of these companies to increase the tyre prices. The ministry had then referred the case to the CCI.[37]

References

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  1. ^ "CODE OF FAIR DISCLOSURE AND CONDUCT" (PDF).
  2. ^ "What's in that name?". @businessline. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  3. ^ "CEAT: its past and its present – Aragorn Group". Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  4. ^ – About us
  5. ^ "Nomura report highlights CEAT's emphasis on automation at Halol plant". MoneyControl.
  6. ^ "CEAT invests Rs 400 cr in new plant in Nagpur". ProjectsToday. 12 December 2014.
  7. ^ "CEAT Embraces Emerging Trends, Plans US Foray". Mobility Outlook. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  8. ^ www.ETAuto.com. "Ceat plans INR 900 crore capex to ramp up OHT capacity and for plant optimisation - ET Auto". ETAuto.com. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  9. ^ "Ceat to expand Chennai plant". The Economic Times. 19 October 2024. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  10. ^ "What's in that name?". @businessline. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  11. ^ a b c "CEAT: Reports, Company History, Directors Report, Chairman's Speech, Auditors Report of CEAT - NDTV". www.ndtv.com. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  12. ^ "Ceat History | Ceat Information - The Economic Times". economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  13. ^ Oberoi, Rahul (24 April 2020). "Watch out 94 big winners of last four bull markets! They may surprise again". The Economic Times.
  14. ^ "CEAT (Cavi Elettrici e Affini Torino) - MuseoTorino".
  15. ^ a b "CEAT Company History - Business Standard News | Page 1". Business Standard India. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  16. ^ "Buying opportunity for investors as Sensex, Nifty off 34% from record highs; 3 stocks set to rise up to 26%". The Financial Express. 20 April 2020.
  17. ^ "BUSINESS TODAY -CEAT Kelani Holdings A Synergy Driven By Quality And Reliability". www.businesstoday.lk. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  18. ^ "Ceat opens ₹1,400-crore radial tyre factory near Chennai". BusinessLine. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  19. ^ www.ETAuto.com. "Ceat plans to enter US market by year-end - ET Auto". ETAuto.com. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Tyre makers likely to see demand revival on govt's rural boost; CEAT, Apollo, JK Tyre in focus". Moneycontrol.
  21. ^ www.ETAuto.com. "Ceat launches tyres for luxury segment - ET Auto". ETAuto.com. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  22. ^ "CEAT launches new Sportrad and Crossrad radial tyres". Overdrive. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  23. ^ "CEAT SecuraDrive SUV tyre range launched for compact SUVs". India Today. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  24. ^ "CEAT launches new range of all-terrain tyres for SUVs". CarWale. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  25. ^ "CEAT Engineers Custom-Built Tyres For Bujji, The Star Vehicle Of Sci-Fi Epic Kalki 2898 AD". TyreDekho. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  26. ^ Singh, Anjali. "CEAT Tyres announces two-year partnership with Bayer 04 Leverkusen". Business Standard.
  27. ^ Sur, Dipan (3 June 2023). "CEAT Indian Supercross Racing League, the world's first franchise-based racing league, launched". Evo India. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  28. ^ "Shubman Gill wins multiple honours in 25th CEAT Cricket Rating Awards". India Today. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  29. ^ Laghate, Gaurav (31 October 2018). "CEAT extends bat deal with Rohit Sharma by 3 years". The Economic Times. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  30. ^ "Harmanpreet Kaur inks cricket bat deal with CEAT". Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  31. ^ Sharma, Harsh (26 November 2018). "Women in Blue marching into Men's commercial domain - InsideSport". InsideSport. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  32. ^ Dasgupta, Pritha Mitra (12 March 2015). "CEAT Tyres to sponsor IPL strategic timeout". The Economic Times. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  33. ^ "Ceat Tyres introduces Enduro Tracks training program". The Times of India. 14 June 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
  34. ^ www.ETAuto.com. "CEAT is the first tyre brand globally to win Deming Grand Prize - ET Auto". ETAuto.com. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  35. ^ "CEAT wins Sword of Honour from British Safety Council". Autocar Professional. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  36. ^ Ahmed, Aroosa (16 January 2023). "CEAT Tyres gets 'Lighhouse Certification' from World Economic Forum for Halol plant". BusinessLine. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  37. ^ "CCI Conducts Raids On Tyre Companies". 3 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.