A flat tyre on any day is a harrowing experience for two-wheeler riders. But this could be a thing of the past for motorcyclists if the ‘Puncture Safe’ tyres rolled out by Ceat in Hyderabad is anything to go by.
The new range of motorcycle tyres offers a technology that allows them to resist punctures with no loss of air pressure. Vice-President (Marketing) Nitish Bajaj, in an interaction with The Hindu here on Tuesday, explained that the tyres comes with sealant coating inside.
“When a nail pierces the tyres, the adhesive material seals the nail. Once the nail is taken out, the sealant fills that place. Thus there is no air leakage and no need for one to go to a puncture shop,” he said. Intense research by the company, he said, showed that most of the punctures are up to 4 mm in size and that the new tyres can handle them.
From Hyderabad, where ‘Puncture Safe’ was unveiled to the trade on Monday evening, the company would roll it out across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based on the market learnings, the tyre maker intends to launch the product in other parts of the country.
With motorcycles accounting for 70 per cent of the two-wheelers in the country, the company decided to launch the product for the segment. While it is the replacement market that is the focus now, the company intends to popularise the new product among two-wheeler manufacturers. Ceat would also consider introducing a product on the same lines for scooters.
The retail price of ‘Puncture Safe’ tyres would be around Rs.1800-1,900 each, about Rs.300 more than that of tubeless tyres for motorcycles, he said, expecting the new product to become a norm.
