‘Increasing price of raw items new challenge for automobile firms’

The increasing price of raw material has been a challenge, indicated Prashanth Doreswamy, president and CEO of Continental India, which is involved in tyre manufacturing and automotive technology, among other ventures. Doreswamy was speaking to The Indian Express on the sidelines of the inauguration of the company’s new facility in Satara.

The increasing prices, as well as the supply bottleneck of semi-conductors, has prompted automobile OEMs and ancillary companies to increase their prices. The semi-conductor shortage has even forced some companies to scale down production while analysts have warned that the bottleneck may last for at least a year or two. But he said that like other companies, Continental will also be forced to pass on a portion of the price rise to the end consumer.

Recently, the company announced commercial production of tyres using material from PET bottles. “Polyester yarn is extracted from PET bottles. A single tyre can be made from material extracted from 40 PET bottles,” he said.