Castrol India re-launches Castrol Power1 in Mumbai

Castrol India, a lubricant manufacturing company, has re-launched Castrol Power1 high performance engine oil for four-stroke motorcycles in Mumbai. Bollywood actor John Abraham unveiled the new Castrol Power1 pack. The oil now comes in a gold star pack and is available in one liter and 900 ml pack sizes.
Abraham also shared a unique xBhp and Castrol Power1 sponsored Biker of the Year campaign to recognize and honor the most passionate bikers in the country. Castrol India is the second largest player in India’s lubricant industry and is the market leader in the retail automotive lubricant segment. It manufactures and markets a range of automotive and industrial lubricants.
This move comes despite the worldwide global recession causing problems throughout the auto industry, which impacted Castrol, too.
Ravi Kirpalani, managing director, Castrol India, recently made comments about Castrol’s efforts to thrive in the current economy. He noted, “The total market for lubricants is a little over 1 billion liters a year. Roughly, under two-thirds of the volumes are sold for commercial vehicles (CVs), which include trucks, tractors, off road equipment etc.”
“There is a natural reason why the volumes will decline because constantly original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are increasing the length of time for which an oil can be used because you use a newer technology. For example, for Tata Motors trucks, they used to change the oil every 9,000 kms a year and they upgraded and went to 18,000 and today we are talking about 40,000 kms…..”
There are also financial concerns Castrol has to consider. Kirpalani continued, “[W]ith the rupee slowing, it will add to the overall sentiment. And the other uncertainty is the elections in 2014. People are going to be cautious in terms of investments. I think it’s going to take 3-4 quarters to correct the current situation, which can be the second half of 2014.”
To combat this, he said, “[W]e have to find alternative ways of growing. At the same time, we recognize that India is a growth market at least in the medium to longer term. Even though we are a little pessimistic about the short term, we are very bullish about the long term…. We can’t stop investing because when the growth comes we need to be ready to take advantage of it.”
Castrol is also realizing that to serve the Indian market, they need to be local. “[W]e have now moved our global R&D center for two-wheeler oils in India. It used to be done in the UK. But we realized that scooters and motorcycles are largely an Asian phenomenon and India is one of the largest markets in the world. So, we decided why not move our global product development center here?”
They started this local research concept years ago. “Our partnership with Tata Motors goes back 30 years. When Tata Nano was launched, they got in touch with us and our engineers worked alongside to co-engineer a lubricant for that very special Tata Nano.”
With innovations and local partnerships, Castrol is positioning themselves well to weather the current economic storm.
(August 26, 28, 2013)