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JK Tyre ties up with IOC

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, June 23

IN what appears to be yet another innovative way to capture a customer's `mindshare' for its products, JK Tyre on Friday entered into a marketing alliance with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to offer value-added services to motorists.

The memorandum of understanding _ valid for five years _ envisages installation of digital air pressure gauges by JK Tyre at over 1000 Indian Oil petrol stations throughout the country, setting up of tyre sales and service outlets in some of the station s, besides conducting consumer education camps on fuel conservation and tyre maintenance.

``JK Tyre will maintain these digital air pressure gauges, which can be used free-of-cost by motorists, and also offer additional services like wheel balancing and alignments. This arrangement will be for mutual benefit as Indian Oil dealers can now opt for retailing JK Tyre products'', Mr. S. Rangarajan, Director (Marketing), JK Industries, told newspersons here.

Mr. B.K. Das, Executive Director (Sales), IOC, said that the oil company would continue to offer ``synergistic facilities'' as part of its retail marketing strategy of positioning their petrol stations as `one-stop shop' for all automobile needs. This al liance is yet another step in that direction, he said.

The official, however, mentioned that IOC will not enter into any marketing tie-up with any another tyre company for the next five years.

With a large number of Indian motorists identifying petrol stations as `multiple-product purchase outlets' and up-market consumers always racing against time, Mr. Das felt that it makes good ``marketing sense'' to provide facilities such as digital air p ressure gauges _ which IOC has already started providing in its stations _ ATMs, drug stores, convenio stores, telephone payment outlets and cyber cafes.

He also said that IOC has already embarked on its second phase of petrol station modernisation programme, where it would offer some form of financial assistance to certain ``high-selling'' dealer-owned and operated petrol stations. Under the first phase, about Rs. 400 crores have been spent on the upgradation of about 1,200 company-owned and dealer-operated petrol stations.

IOC is also hopeful of adding another 100 more `Jubilee' outlets, as against the current 67, to its distribution network over the next two years, Mr. Das said.