CEAT to double outlets to 1 lakh in 2-3 years: COO

NEW DELHI: CEAT Ltd plans to expand its tyre sales network in places with population of 5,000-10,000 via its FMCG style of distribution, aiming to double outlets to 1 lakh in two to three years, company COO Arnab Banerjee said on Friday.

The company, which has partnered with kirana store operators, small automobile spare parts sellers and puncture repair shops, feels it has more or less “saturated” penetration in places with 25,000 population in the country and there is a need to go to even lesser populated areas for its two-wheeler tyres.

What started around 2011-2012 as a step to come closer to rural two-wheeler customers, who otherwise had to travel over 25 kilometres to buy replacement tyres, has now yielded good returns for CEAT, contributing around 70 per cent of its overall sales from the replacement segment, Banerjee said.

“We have a total of 50,000 outlets, which we plan to double to 1,00,000 in the coming years. For that one huge operation is going on for further improving penetration. We think we have (reached) saturation in places of up to 25,000 population but below 25,000 there are gaps,” he said.