Kingsway Tyres: A Leading Tyre Solutions Provider in Kenya by Aashit Shah

Aashit Shah, CEO of Kingsway Tyres, presents the company and its products. In Kenya, Kingsway is a leading tyre solutions provider.

“Our share of the market is between 15% and 20% in the Kenyan space. In some segments it is higher, such as in niche segments like 4×4, UHP, SUVs. What we have not given up is our focus on premium products and services. The entire market is influenced heavily by price and giving cheap products to consumers. In our portfolio products which are primarily our premium portfolio (Michelin, BF Goodrich, Kumho, Apollo, Goodyear) we have not given in to adding more Chinese products. In some segments, we have had to give in. For example, in the truck segment, transporters who are struggling are not willing to pay any more for more expensive products, even though we give all our technical services, show them cost per kilometer, give them fleet management, and fleet audits. The market has pushed them to the wall and they continue to buy the cheaper product. But we still do not have the cheapest product in the market. We focus on good quality products with a good margin that give a good value to the customer. Our reputation is also our biggest strength and we do not want to engage with products that affect that. One thing we have learned is that what we have been doing all these years has actually worked. So, we will never change that and we will continue selling or giving the right solutions and the right products, partnering with the right people, because that is really where our expertise lies. We do not need to have the infrastructure to sell Chinese products at cheap pricing. What we are really good at is being in retail, going out in different locations, giving the right service, training up people, and telling the market that we are truly the best. That takes time and effort. We have to maintain those overheads that come from that but in the long-term, that is where we have always strived to be. In the short-term, we can take a lot of punches and we are strong enough to face those challenges. It is easy to let yourself be influenced by how the market is behaving, but we continue to believe that premium is the route to take. We have been more than happy to add more premium products in different niche markets because that is where our true strength lies. Everything else is easy. Giving a product and price is actually not that difficult. The opportunity lies in differentiating yourself from what everyone else is doing and just focusing on what you truly believe in”, says Aashit Shah.

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