[greatpower]

Hit by demand slump, Dunlop stops production in Sahaganj unit

Citing lack of demand due to the global recession, tyre makers Dunlop on Monday stopped production at its Sahaganj unit in West Bengal's Hooghly district.

"Production has been stopped for the time being. The workers have been asked not to come to the factory," a spokesman of the Pawan Kumar Ruia-owned company told IANS.

The company's decision met with an angry response from its workers, who staged a demonstration at the factory gate.

The spokesman said with automobile companies feeling the heet of economic downturn worldwide, the demand for tyres has gone down sharply.

"The crisis has had a heavy impact on the tyre sector. We have a huge shortage of capital. So we called the union leaders on Saturday for a bi-partite and told them since there is almost no demand, the company would be incurring heavy losses if production continued. And they agreed," he said.

The company would pay a monthly subsistence allowance of Rs.2,000 to each of its 1,202 workers till the time the situation normalised and production resumed.

"This was the best option before us. Otherwise, we may have had to go for lock-out," he said, assuring there would be no lay-off.

The company would now look for sufficient capital fund, but the spokesman could not give a time-frame for production to restart. "We may get the funds in 15 days, or it may be three months even. We don't know. But we are hopeful that we will be able to solve the problem fast".

Asked to quantify the drop in demand, he said: "Globally, there has been a 74 per cent fall in demand for tyres. Our company is on a revival course. We are producing only 45-50 tonnes per day".

Commercial production at the ailing tyre major's Sahaganj factory had resumed on Jan 14 last year, after a five-year closure.

Dunlop was bought over by Kolkata-based businessman Ruia from Manohar Rajaram Chhabria's family in late 2005.

The company has a full capacity of 130 tonnes a day.
Source HT

[theMAG]

I was not aware Dunlop were active in India.

[Sowmya]

Where is Mamatha DI DI

[hillram]

Sad to hear that Dunlop production is stopped.They are very good tyres..My RD is so used to Dunlop tyres///

[Brabus E V12]

Originally Posted by greatpower

Hit by demand slump, Dunlop stops production in Sahaganj unit

Asked to quantify the drop in demand, he said: "Globally, there has been a 74 per cent fall in demand for tyres. Our company is on a revival course. We are producing only 45-50 tonnes per day".
Source HT

A 74% drop in demand! Man that is a lot..no wonder the factory shut down!!

[backrub]

I think the Laura , not the cut price version, but the higher end models with 16" rims were coming with dunlop tyres.

But I dont think they are very good tyres. Not as good as what the brand says

[directinjection]

In its hay days Dunlop used to be India's only tyre maker that produced aircraft tyres.

Today, no company in India makes aircraft tyres and this country of billion plus imports all of them.

MRF has recently made a humble beginning by producng small tyres for Chetak helicopters. Still a long way to go.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by backrub

I think the Laura , not the cut price version, but the higher end models with 16" rims were coming with dunlop tyres.

But I dont think they are very good tyres. Not as good as what the brand says

Those are not manufactured by Dunlop India. Dunlop India has not been manufacturing passenger car tyres for a very long time now. They were concentrating on tyres & tubes for the two-wheeler segment.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by directinjection

In its hay days Dunlop used to be India's only tyre maker that produced aircraft tyres.

Today, no company in India makes aircraft tyres and this country of billion plus imports all of them.

MRF has recently made a humble beginning by producng small tyres for Chetak helicopters. Still a long way to go.

Dunlop India has been struggling for more than a decade now. Their unit in chennai is in lock out for the last 8-10 or more years. Dunlop was recently bought by Apollo in 2006 & rehabilitated, but the losses continued to climb & now they have closed again.

[Tejas@perioimpl]

Originally Posted by backrub

But I dont think they are very good tyres. Not as good as what the brand says

Dunlop SP9000s where the highest rated tyres available and had the best ride quality of any tyre that i have ever used.
Feel bad for dunlop though

[tadukuttan]

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl

Dunlop SP9000s where the highest rated tyres available and had the best ride quality of any tyre that i have ever used.
Feel bad for dunlop though

I like SP9000 too.

@Ishaan, if Dunlop was not building that tire in India, who was doing it? Was a pretty decent one anyway...

[dhaval]

Thats a sad news. Hope the stocks are available. I need to change the rear tire on my Pulsar with the Dunlop Geo-Cruiser.

[BenjiRoss]

My dad worked with Dunlop about 20 years ago. Recently his friends called him to see if he could join up again.
Seeing this news kind of brings back some memories of him coming back on his Enfield bullet from work when we were in school.

[iraghava]

Originally Posted by tadukuttan

@Ishaan, if Dunlop was not building that tire in India, who was doing it? Was a pretty decent one anyway...

It was never made here or sold here officially, Tadu. All tyres available were through the grey market & were made abroad. Dunlop has not been making car tyres in India for a long, long time now. I don't know the exact time period but 10yrs+ is a safe bet.

[tadukuttan]

Originally Posted by iraghava

It was never made here or sold here officially, Tadu. All tyres available were through the grey market & were made abroad. Dunlop has not been making car tyres in India for a long, long time now. I don't know the exact time period but 10yrs+ is a safe bet.

Ah okay! Guess this means it will still be available, right? Don't think the grey market cares whether Dunlop India shuts down or not!