Balkrishna Industries Ltd.'s (BKT) OTR tire sales climbed 60% in 2019, Arvind Poddar, the company's chairman and managing director, told Modern Tire Dealer during the 2019 Specialty Equipment Market Association show.
BKT plans to capitalize on that momentum by adding a 57-inch OTR tire next year, according to Poddar. The product will be made at the company's plant in Bhuj, India.
"We've seen good pick-up" in demand for BKT's OTR tires, says Rajiv Poddar, the company's joint managing director. The manufacturer's products are performing well in trials.
"We're getting a lot of people coming back and asking for our tires."
BKT also is working with Caterpillar on possible original equipment positioning.
In addition, the tire manufacturer is "positive about growth" in the farm tire segment, despite challenges that have impacted some of its end users, including a difficult planting season caused by adverse weather in many parts of the United States.
BKT increased its farm tire revenue during 2019, and "we still have a lot of room to grow," according to the elder Poddar.
"We don't want to take anybody else's market share. We want to create our own market. At the beginning of 2020, 'slowdown talk' will die down and (customers) will look positively toward growth. We certainly are positive about growth."
