MRF (company)

MRF or MRF Tyres, is an Indian multinational tyre

manufacturing company and the largest
manufacturer of tyres in India. It is
headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.[2]
The word MRF comes from the company's initial
days when it was called as Madras Rubber
Factory. The company manufactures rubber
products including tyres, treads, tubes and
conveyor belts, paints and toys.[3] MRF also runs
the MRF Pace Foundation, Chennai and MIDD –
MRF Institute of Driver Development in Chennai.
MRF Limited has emerged as the world's second-
strongest tyre maker, with a AAA- brand
grade.[4]
 MRF Limited

Type Public

Traded as BSE: 500290 (https://

www.bseindia.com/stock
-share-price/x/y/50029
0/)
NSE: MRF (https://ww
w.nseindia.com/get-quot
es/equity?symbol=MRF)
ISIN INE883A01011 (https://is
in.toolforge.org/?langua
ge=en&isin=INE883A0101
1)
Industry Tyres
 Rubber products
Founded Tiruvottiyur, Madras,
Tamil Nadu, India (1946)
Founder K. M. Mammen Mappillai

Headquarters Chennai, Tamil Nadu,

India
Area served Worldwide

Key people K. M. Mammen

(Chairman)
Rahul Mammen Mappillai
(MD)
Products Tyres
Toys
Sports equipment
Conveyor belt
Paints
Coats
Revenue ₹23,261.20 crore
(US$2.9 billion)
 (2023)[1]
Operating income ₹2,389.10 crore
(US$300 million) (2023)
[1]

Net income ₹769 crore

(US$96 million) (2023)[1]
Total assets ₹24,369.40 crore
(US$3.1 billion) (2023)[1]
Total equity ₹14,707.70 crore
(US$1.8 billion) (2023)[1]
Number of employees 19,050 (2023)

Website www.mrftyres.com (htt

p://www.mrftyres.co
m/)
History

MRF was started by K. M. Mammen Mappillai as a

toy balloon manufacturing unit in 1946 at
Tiruvottiyur, Madras (now Chennai). In 1952, the
company ventured into the manufacture of tread
rubber.[2] Madras Rubber Factory limited was
incorporated as a private company in November
1960 and ventured into manufacture of tyres in
partnership with Mansfield Tire & Rubber
company based in Ohio, United States.[5] The
company went public on 1 April 1961 and an office
was established in Beirut, Lebanon to develop the
export market in 1964 and its current logo of the
muscleman was born.[5] In 1967, it became the
first Indian company to export tyres to USA.[6]

In 1973, MRF started manufacturing Nylon tyres

for the first time. The company entered into with
a technical know-how collaboration with B. F.
Goodrich in 1978.[7] The Mansfield Tire & Rubber
Co sold out its share in 1979 and the name of the
company was changed to MRF Ltd in the year. The
company finalised a technical collaboration
agreement with Marangoni TRS SPA, Italy for the
manufacture of pre-cured tread rubber for
retreading industry. MRF tyres supplied tyres to
Maruti 800, India's first modern small car.[5] In
1989, the company collaborated with Hasbro
International, the world's largest toy maker and
launched Funskool India. Also, they entered into a
pact with Vapocure of Australia to manufacture
polyurethane paint formulations and with Italian
tyre manufacturer Pirelli for conveyor and
elevator belt manufacture.[7] During the year
2004–05, the product range of the company
expanded with Go-kart & rally tyres and tyres for
two/three wheelers.

Products

Tyres manufactures various tyres for passenger

cars, two–wheelers, trucks, buses, tractors,
light commercial vehicles, off–the–road tyres
and aero plane tyres,[3] MRF ZVTS[8] and MRF
Wanderers for cars and SUVs, MRF Meteor all
terrain tyres, MRF Steel Muscle for trucks and
buses.[7]
MRF ZLX is the latest one which is well known
for its comfort in passenger segment
Conveyor Belting – manufactures its in-house
brand of Muscleflex conveyor belts.[7]
Pretreads – MRF has the most advanced pre-
cured retreading system in India. MRF forayed
into retreading in 1970 and manufactures
pretreads for tyres.[7]
Paints - manufactures polyurethane paint
formulations and coats used in automotive,
decorative and industrial applications.[3]also
indigenous Air craft tyres like Su 30 MKI
fighter for Indian Air Force.
Manufacturing facilities in
India

1. Kottayam Plant in Kerala

2. Puducherry Plant
3. Goa Plant
4. Trichy Radial Plant in Perambalur District,
Tamil Nadu
5. Trichy Bias Plant in Perambalur District,
Tamil Nadu
6. Arakonam Plant in Tamil Nadu
7. Tiruvottiyur Plant in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
8. Medak Plant in Telangana
9. Ankenpally Plant in Telangana
 10. Dahej Plant in Gujarat

The company also manufactures toys at its facility

in Goa. The paints and coats are manufactured at
two facilities in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.[9]

Funskool

Funskool India was established in 1987 in

collaboration with Hasbro toys, US. Funskool
manufactures and markets toys, board games
among others. It has a manufacturing facility in
Goa, India. The company has manufacturing
licenses for toys and games from Disney, Warner
Brothers, Rummikub, Dora and Funskool also has
partnerships with renowned toy brands Hasbro,
Lego, Hornby, Ravensburger, Tomy Toys,
LeapFrog, Siku, Jumbo, and New Bright for
manufacture and marketing in India.[10]

Motorsports

MRF Racing

MRF built its first Formula 3 car in 1997.[11] MRF

in collaboration with Maruti established the
Formula Maruti racing, a single-seater, open
wheel class motorsport racing event for race cars
made in India.[5] MRF Challenge is a Formula
2000 open-wheel motorsport formula based series
organised by Madras Motor Sports Club in
association with MRF. The latest season consisted
of races organised at Madras Motor Racing Track,
Chennai, Bahrain International Circuit, Losail
International Circuit, Doha and Buddh
International Circuit, Noida. Freddie Hunt, son of
1976 Formula One champion James Hunt and
Mathias Lauda, son of 1975, 1977 and 1984
Formula One champion Niki Lauda both competed
in the series.[12] MRF has sponsored Indian racing
drivers including Narain Karthikeyan, Karun
Chandok, Ashwin Sundar, N. Leelakrishnan and
Raj Bharath.

MRF rally team

MRF have also been a long-running sponsor of an

MRF rally team participating in the Asia-Pacific
Rally Championship and Indian National Rally
Championship. Associating with Czech car
manufacturer Škoda, MRF Skoda is the three time
reigning champion in the Asia-Pacific Rally
Championship with Chris Atkinson winning in
2012, Gaurav Gill in 2013, Jan Kopecký in
2014,[13] Pontus Tidemand in 2015 and Gaurav Gill
again in 2016 and 2017. MRF also participates in
Raid De Himalaya, the world's highest rally.[14]

MRF entered the European Rally Championship in

2020, with WRC Hyundai driver Craig Breen and
Emil Lindholm driving for the team.

MRF remained in ERC for 2021 and also joined

several other rally championships. Craig Breen,
along with Italian Simone Campedelli are set to
participate in European Rally Championship.
Campedelli, along with eleven-time Italian rally
champion Paolo Andreucci and the 2017 ERC
Ladies champion Tamara Molinaro will use the
tyres while competing in the Italy Gravel rally
championship. Emil Lindholm left ERC and instead
will focus entirely on testing the tyres on the
gravel roads of Finland. After the 2021 Rally di
Roma Capitale, Breen was replaced by other
Hyundai drivers, Jari Huttunen and Dani Sordo,
as well as Nil Solans later on.

MRF entered Norbert Herczig, Simone Campedelli

and the 2021 runner-up Efren Llarena for the
2022 campaign, with Llarena taking his first win
during 2022 Rallye Azores.
MRF Motocross

MRF promotes a national motocross championship,

a form of all-terrain two wheeler racing held on
enclosed off-road circuits annually across several
cities.[11]

MRF Karting

MRF sponsors major karting championships in

India. MRF is the first Indian tyre company to
develop FIA approved karting tyres.[11]
Cricket

MRF Pace Foundation

MRF Pace Foundation is a coaching clinic for

training fast bowlers established by MRF with the
help of former Australian Pace spearhead Dennis
Lillee in Chennai, India. Through this program,
young aspiring fast bowlers are trained in a
special facility. Fast bowlers who trained with
foundation and went on to represent the Indian
Cricket Team include Javagal Srinath, Irfan
Pathan, Munaf Patel, Venkatesh Prasad, R. P.
Singh, Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth. Besides
Indian players, foreign players like Chaminda
Vaas, Henry Olonga, Heath Streak and Australian
fast bowlers Glenn McGrath, Mitchell Johnson
and Brett Lee have also trained at the foundation.
Sachin Tendulkar in his early days trained in the
MRF Pace Foundation to become a fast bowler.
Glenn McGrath was appointed director of the
Foundation on 2 September 2012, replacing Dennis
Lillee, who has held the post since its inception in
1987.[15]

Endorsement

MRF has been the bat sponsor for many great

cricketers of the game. Sachin Tendulkar, Brian
Lara and Steve Waugh.[16] Currently MRF is
endorsed by Jerome Chinia and Virat Kohli.[17]
MRF has also sponsored Indian batsmen Rohit
Sharma,[18] Gautam Gambhir, Sanju Samson and
Shikhar Dhawan. and Mignon du Preez.

Previous endorsements

Sachin Tendulkar – India. Conqueror, Genius,

Wizard
Virat Kohli – India. Conqueror, Genius.
Brian Lara – West Indies. Wizard, Wizard
400 (named in honour of the 400 not out he
made against England at the Antigua Recreation
Ground)
Steve Waugh – Australia. Conqueror
Gautam Gambhir – India. Genius
Sanju Samson – India. Wizard
 Shikhar Dhawan – India. Genius
Prithvi Shaw - India. Genius, Prodigy PS 100
AB de Villiers - South Africa. Genius

Sponsorship

At IPL 2010, MRF sponsored moored balloons

floating above the cricket grounds with a high-
definition camera recording live actions of the
cricket match. MRF joined as a global partner of
International Cricket Council for 2015 Cricket
World Cup.[19] In 2017, MRF became the sleeve
sponsor for the Premier League clubs Newcastle
United,[20] West Ham United F. C.[21] and official
tyre partner for West Bromwich Albion.
Awards and recognition

MRF won the JD Power Award for the record 11th

time in 2014.[22] The company has won several
awards and accolades including the All India
Rubber Industries Association's (AIRIA) award for
'Highest Export Awards (Auto Tyre Sector)', 'Top
Export Award' from Chemicals & Allied Products
Export Promotion Council (CAPEXIL) for 2009–
10. In 2014, MRF was ranked 48th among India's
most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust
Report, a study conducted by Trust Research
Advisory.[23]
Anti competition practices

In April 2022, the Competition Commission of

India raided the headquarters of MRF along with
other tyre companies like Apollo Tyres, CEAT and
Continental Tyre at multiple locations. Earlier in
February the anti trust watch dog had released a
statement about fining these tyre companies a total
of Rs 1788 crores (of which MRF fined Rs
622.09 cr.) for sharing price sensitive
information among themselves to manage their
cartelization of tyre prices for supplies to the
public transport corporation of Haryana state.
Earlier the All India Tyre Dealers Federation had
complained to the Ministry of corporate affairs
about this cartelization of these companies to
increase the tyre prices. The ministry had then
referred the case to the CCI.[24]

See also

CEAT (company)
Apollo Tyres

References

1. "MRF Q4FY23 Results" (https://archives.nseindi

a.com/corporate/board030520230001_030520
23125202.pdf) (PDF). nseindia.com.
2. "MRF:Overview" (http://www.mrftyres.com/ov
erview) . 14 February 2015.
3. "Company Profile:MRF" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20150214104152/http://in.reuters.com/
finance/stocks/companyProfile?symbol=MRF.B
O) . Reuters. 14 February 2015. Archived from
the original (http://in.reuters.com/finance/stoc
ks/companyProfile?symbol=MRF.BO) on 14
February 2015.
4. "MRF is 2nd strongest tyre brand in world" (http
s://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/m
rf-is-2nd-strongest-tyre-brand-in-world/article
show/99450000.cms) . The Times of India. 13
April 2023. ISSN 0971-8257 (https://www.wo
rldcat.org/issn/0971-8257) . Retrieved 14 April
2023.
5. "MRF Limited" (http://profit.ndtv.com/stock/m
rf-ltd_mrf/reports) . NDTV. 14 February 2015.
6. "Time line and milestones : MRF tyres 1946-1970"
(http://www.mrftyres.com/milestones/1946-19
70) . MRF Tyres website. MRF Tyres. Retrieved
12 August 2015.
7. "Company background: MRF" (http://www.india
infoline.com/markets/company/background/comp
any-profile/mrf-ltd/391) . 14 February 2015.
8. "What Are The Best Tyre Brands 2020? -
Caringlyyours" (https://www.caringlyyours.co
m/best-tyre-brands/) . Caringly Yours. 16 June
2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
9. "MRF Paints and Coats" (http://www.mrftyres.c
om/paints-and-coats) .
10. "Funskool India" (https://www.funskoolindia.co
m/about-us/our-company) . 14 February 2015.
11. "MRF Sports" (http://www.mrftyres.com/mrf-s
ports) .
12. Simmons, Marcus (15 July 2014). "The sons of
James Hunt and Niki Lauda to race in MRF series"
(http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/i
d/114968) . Autosport. Haymarket Publications.
Retrieved 15 August 2014.
13. "Kopecky wins WRC for MRF" (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20141129084902/http://www.rall
y.com.au/world-news/kopecky-wins-aprc-for-te
am-mrf) . rally.com. Archived from the original
(http://www.rally.com.au/world-news/kopecky
-wins-aprc-for-team-mrf) on 29 November
2014.
14. "Raid de Himalaya 2009 from October 5, 2009"
(https://web.archive.org/web/2010010104004
9/http://northindiatimes.com/news/122/ARTIC
LE/1902/2009-09-02.html) . North India
Times. 2 September 2009. Archived from the
original (http://www.northindiatimes.com/new
s/122/ARTICLE/1902/2009-09-02.html) on 1
January 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
15. "McGrath takes charge of MRF Pace Foundation" (h
ttp://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/curr
ent/story/580431.html) . Espncricinfo.
16. "Sachin's innings with MRF ends" (http://www.th
ehindu.com/sport/cricket/sachins-innings-with-
mrf-ends/article21753.ece) . The Hindu.
17. "Virat Kohli earns Rs 8 crore for MRF ad on his
bat, rakes in Rs 2 crore more than MS Dhoni" (htt
p://www.oneindia.com/sports/cricket/virat-ko
hli-earns-rs-8-crore-mrf-ad-on-his-bat-ms-dho
ni-team-india-2047409.html) .
18. "Even I am guilty of getting carried away but
Sachin has stayed grounded" (http://archive.indi
anexpress.com/news/even-i-am-guilty-of-gettin
g-carried-away-but-sachin-has-stayed-grounde
d/1191324/) . The Indian Express.
19. "MRF becomes global partner for ICC" (http://w
ww.zigwheels.com/news-features/news/mrf-bec
omes-global-partner-for-icc-cricket-world-cup-2
015/20446/) . Zigwheels.
20. "MRF named shirt sleeve sponsor" (https://www.
nufc.co.uk/news/latest-news/mrf-named-shirt-
sleeve-sponsor) . Newcastle United Football Club.
8 September 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
21. "MRF announced as West Ham United's first ever
shirt sleeve sponsor" (https://www.whufc.com/n
ews/articles/2017/september/08-september/mrf
-announced-west-ham-uniteds-first-ever-shirt-sl
eeve) . West Halm Football Club. Retrieved
29 March 2018.
22. "MRF gets JD Power award for 10th time" (htt
p://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-
business/MRF-gets-JD-Power-award-for-10th-ti
me/articleshow/24935923.cms) . The Times of
India.
 23. "India's Most Trusted Brands" (https://web.archiv
e.org/web/20150502221904/http://www.trust
advisory.info/allindia_2014.html) . Archived
from the original (http://www.trustadvisory.inf
o/allindia_2014.html) on 2 May 2015.
24. "CCI Conducts Raids On Tyre Companies" (http
s://www.cartoq.com/cci-conducts-raids-on-tyre
-companies/) . 3 April 2022. Retrieved 4 April
2022.

External links

Official website (http://www.mrftyres.com)

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

title=MRF_(company)&oldid=1191253162"
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