History

CEAT, i.e. the RPG Group’s flagship company, was established in 1958 as CEAT Tyres of India Ltd, in collaboration with the Tata Group. It produces high-performance tyres for a wide range of vehicles. In February 22, 1960, the company's factory at Bhandup in Mumbai produced its first CEAT tyre. In the year 1972, they set up an R&D unit at Bhandup. In 1982, the RPG Group acquired CEAT. The company collaborated with Toray Industries of Japan in 1987 and Yokohama Rubber Company in 1988. The company changed its name from Ceat Tyres of India Ltd to Ceat Ltd in January 1990. In 1996, the company launched 'Maestro', the first radial tyre in India to use advanced polyester tyre cord technology combined with steel belts. They also launched a 'Stamina', a light commercial vehicle tyre. CEAT launched over 100 new products in FY 2013-14, including Gripp low-noise tyres for passenger car radials, Zoom for motorcycle tyres and the Dhoom 3 branded, high-speed, special-edition tyres. In FY 2025, CEAT began major capital expenditures to manufacture 2, 3, and 4-wheeler passenger vehicle tyres at Halol and Nagpur. In FY 2016, the focus was on tyres with superior grip to promote user safety. The company continued to expand its distribution network as well. In 2019-20, CEAT commissioned a greenfield project in Chennai, which can produce approximately 96 lakh tyres per year of Passenger Car Radial Tyres. During FY 2021, CEAT began automating various business processes like Accounting, E-Collections, GST Vendor Reconciliation, etc. In 2022-23, it launched 170 new products, including a new tyre for passenger utility vehicles called CrossDrive, It also launched a new category of EV products such as EnergyDrive, EnergyRide, WinEnergyX3R, etc.

Business Segments

CEAT is primarily engaged in the production of tyres for various types of automobiles. In terms of the automobile category, CEAT has the following sources of revenue:

1. Trucks and buses - This category contributes the highest share of revenues, roughly 30%.
2. Two and Three-wheelers - This segment comes a close second, providing roughly 26% of the revenues.
3. Passenger cars - This segment brings in 20% of the revenues.
4. Farm - These are tyres for farm vehicles. They bring in 16% of the total revenue.
5. Light Commercial Vehicles - These commonly fall under the goods transport vehicles and bring in roughly 8% of revenues.
6. Speciality category - These are specialised vehicle tyres. They contribute the remaining 7% of revenues.

In terms of the category of business relationship, the company’s revenue comes from:

1. Replacement business - This refers to providing tyres that will be used as replacements for old tyres in existing vehicles. They bring in 53% of the revenue.
2. OEMs - This refers to selling tyres to original equipment manufacturers of automobiles. This brings in roughly 29% of the total revenue.
3. Exports - The remaining tyres are exported, bringing in around 18% of the revenue.

Subsidiaries As of March 31, 2023, the company had 7 subsidiaries. Some of them include:

1. Rado Tyres Limited - They produce a wide range of tyres for vehicles ranging from heavy-duty vehicles to motorcycles.
2. CEAT Auto Components Limited - This Mumbai-based subsidiary is engaged in auto-components manufacturing.
3. Taabi Mobility Limited is a Saas company offering AI-based fleet and logistics management solutions.

Other subsidiaries include Associated CEAT Holdings Company (Private) Limited in Colombo, CEAT Akkhan Ltd in Dhaka, CEAT Specialty Tyres B.V. in the Netherlands and CEAT Specialty Tires Inc. in the USA.

Key personnel

Mr Arnab Banerjee, MD and CEO Mr Banerjee has experience of over 3 decades during which he worked in CEAT, Marico and Berger Paints. He joined CEAT in 2005 as VP of Sales and Marketing. He spearheaded CEAT’s digital transformation by developing the Dealer Portal, website, CEAT Assist App, CEAT Force and more. He has led the globalisation thrust of CEAT in first-world countries and helped bring a coaching mindset in CEAT for performance management and talent development.

Corporate Actions

The company had conducted a rights issue in 2005. It has not had any stock splits, bonus issues or share buybacks recently. Mergers and Acquisitions

• On April 20, 2022, the company incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, CEAT Auto Components Limited.
• In FY 2020-21, CEAT Specialty Tyres Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, was merged with CEAT.