Reise Moto Aims To Become Preferred Tyre Choice, Says Founder & MD

Reise Moto is a new premium two-wheeler tyre brand introduced by Gujarat-based Mahansaria Group. Reise Moto is the result of a joint venture between the Mahansaria Group and European off-road tyre specialists Mitas. Reise Moto intends to create specialised tyres optimised for purpose-specific requirements, which company MD and Founder Yogesh Mahansaria describes as “bespoke applications.” Reise Moto will focus not only on purpose-built tyres, but intends to offer every kind of tyre for every segment of two-wheeler in India. 

Also Read: Reise trailR Tyres First Ride Review

car&bike recently tested the Reise trailR 50/50 dual-sport tyres.

Reise Moto will focus on purpose-built specialised tyres for premium bikes, ranging from dual-sport applications to touring and on-road use tyres. In 2016, Yogesh Mahansaria sold his company’s stake in off-highway tyre brand Alliance Tyre Group to Japanese firm Yokohama Rubber Co. In 2018, the Mahansaria Group signed a joint venture with European brand Mitas, to set up a factory, to meet domestic demand through Reise, and also to make in India Mitas-branded tyres for overseas markets. 

car&bike: So, Mr. Mahansaria, the whole idea of Reise Moto is brand new. Of course, we've experienced the tyres, very interesting tyres indeed and we had a great experience. So how did the partnership start, really between the Mahansaria Group and Mitas?

Yogesh Mahansaria: So, Preetam, we’ve actually known Mitas for many, many years. I think, it’s been more than 25 years since we’ve known Mitas. And although we’ve been competitors in the off-the-road tyre business, we developed a respect for each other over the years, and a good friendship. So, when we sold our last company to Yokohama, we still had a desire to stay somehow involved in the tyre business. And we thought that let’s look at two-wheeler tyres, because India is the largest market in the world for two-wheelers and that’s a growing segment.

So, when we decided to address the two-wheeler market opportunity in India, we were quite clear that we wanted to do something different. 

Reise Moto to primarily focus on leisure and aspirational segments, with an expertise in dual-sport and off-road tyres for the Indian enthusiast.

We didn't want to just be another company to bring another line of product to the market. And we thought that this whole aspirational and leisure experiential segment of the market in India was really growing; you were seeing bigger capacity bikes, more modern, more stylish bikes, and they were growing their share of the Indian market. So, we felt that would be a good sign if we could bring in something different to meet their aspirational needs of the users to have something better than what was available. So, that’s when we started the dialogue with Mitas way back in 2017. 

We discussed, “Look, this is how we see the market evolving and you folks have a great range of products. Is there something we can do together?” And they were very enthusiastic about the idea. They recognised the fact that India is the largest market for two-wheelers and growing very rapidly. And they were also keen to leverage the whole ‘Make in India’ story. So it took us about almost 18 months of discussions and negotiations before we signed the joint venture agreement at the end of 2018. 

Reise Moto will manufacture Mitas-branded tyres for overseas markets, while the Reise brand will cater to the Indian market.

The contract was that we would together build a plant based on Mitas know-how and technology in India and we would produce the tyres in India, sell it back to Mitas for sales in the European and American and other global markets, but we will also offer the product in the Indian market where they didn’t have any distribution network and so on. We had some delays in the factory due to the COVID disruption, but we started trials in early 2022 and finally went live with the production in late 2022.

Reise Moto has a range of tyres for two-wheelers of every segment. Going foward, the company will focus on tyres for the premium two-wheeler segment, ranging from 300-1000 cc.

car&bike: The Mahansaria Group has been known for off-the-highway tyres, in a sense, in use for agricultural and industrial usage. So, that’s been the forte of the company and the group overall. So, there could be a case for SUV tyres, so why two-wheeler tyres specifically?

Yogesh Mahansaria: Our focus has always been on bespoke manufacturing. You know, a wide variety of products made in small runs, very application-specific products. So, if you look at the global off-highway market, agriculture, construction and so on, you need a large variety to cater to the different applications, different soil conditions, different crops, and so on. So, even in our off-the-highway days, we were making 2,000 different varieties of agriculture and construction tyres. So, we had built lot of knowledge and experience about how to have a very application-oriented view about the market and how to do custom manufacturing, or bespoke manufacturing, whatever you want to call it. And that is the same approach we are bringing to the two-wheel market. 

car&bike recently tested the Reise trailR 50:50 adventure tyres.

The role of Reise is to offer bespoke tyres for different needs, like we have in our range, we have 50/50 tyres, which you tested, 50 per cent on-road, 50 per cent off-road. We have the knobbies, which are for 90 per cent, 100 per cent off-road applications. We have a 70/30 tyre, which is for 70 per cent on road and 30 per cent off-road use, and we have a 100 per cent on-road tyre. 

Again, we are using the same lens of making very application-specific tyres made in a custom manufacturing environment to meet the bespoke needs of the market. So, that’s where we’re carrying over all the experience we’ve built over the years also into two wheels.

Reise Moto to focus on “bespoke” tyre applications and purpose-built tyres.

car&bike: How does making bespoke tyres help your business case? Isn’t it a very niche segment, or would you cater to more volume-based segments as well?

YM: I think you have to find the balance between volumes and meeting the bespoke needs. Of course, we make a full line of products. We make tyres for the commuter bikes and scooters as well, so we do have a comprehensive range. But what is different about Reise is that in addition to the volumes tyres, we also have this portfolio of customised products meeting special needs. So, that’s how we think of ourselves, and that’s how Reise is being differentiated and will continue to do so in future. We have a complete product portfolio, but with a strong emphasis on bespoke product needs. 

The reason we can do this very effectively is that our entire factory is designed to make vast variety of products, not just high volumes of a limited range of products. So, a lot of thought has gone into that from the initial project stage. Our partners, Mitas, in any case need that. In Europe and overseas markets, the two-wheeler isn’t just a means of commute, it’s something for leisure, hobby. So, those markets are very different to start off with, in terms of having large variety of products, but the volumes are much smaller. That’s a starting point, and because our factory has been designed and engineered to do that, that allows us the philosophy to carry it forward to the Indian market as well.

Reise Moto has a state-of-the-art factory designed with technical expertise and know-how from Mitas.

car&bike: So, when your factory has been designed to meet the demands of a wide variety of products, that would mean the requirement of benchmarking as well at a global level with your partners?

YM: Absolutely! Our partners have been very involved with us in the project from the first day. They have supported us extensively in terms of designing the factory, in terms of what machines to buy, what is the process flow, how to manage this type of activity. So, we had very close cooperation and very close support from our partners, physically and you know, virtually, because of COVID. But there’s been a deep involvement from their side, because you know, at the end of the day, 60-70 per cent of what we’re producing, we’re shipping back to them. 

Reise Moto the brand could potentially explore other areas beyond just bespoke purpose-built tyres, says Founder & MD Yogesh Mahansaria.

car&bike: Reise is a comparatively new brand, so brand building would have been a different ball game. So, how difficult or easy was to build a new brand called Reise, instead of using Mitas, which would have been easy to piggyback on, considering it’s a well-known European brand?

YM: This was something we spent a lot of time internally discussing and debating. I think the conclusion we came to was that, or the key deciding factor to opt for a new brand versus like you said, the easier route of going for the Mitas brand, was the fact that the dynamics of the Indian market are very different from the global markets. While initially using the Mitas brand would have certainly aided with the brand recall and other things, it would also over time, put some limitations into other opportunities we could explore to take the brand into, whether it is in tyres, or beyond tyres. 

Therefore we felt that starting on a clean slate with a brand where we could shape the identity of over time, with the products we currently sell, we felt that in the short term it would make us work harder, potentially in the long term, it would allow us more creative freedom, so to say. It wasn’t an easy decision, we had lots of arguments and debates, but we finally came to the decision that in the short term it would mean a lot of work, but potentially in the long term, it would be the right decision.

Reise Moto says market response to the tyres has already exceeded expectations.

car&bike: So far, what’s been the market response to the Reise brand has been like?

YM: I think the response has been fantastic, people have been very enthusiastic about what we’re looking to do. I think they have appreciated the efforts that the team has put into the brand, and every small detail. The tread patterns of course are well know, from the Mitas brand, adapted for Indian conditions, but beyond that, if you look at the detailing that we do on the sidewalls, in my over 30 years of experience in the tyre industry, I haven’t seen the amount of work. 

The tread pattern of the Reise trailR is similar to Mitas' dual-sport tyres like the Mitas E07.

We have literally made 7 or 8 different versions of the sidewall design, we looked at the aesthetics, again, there were a lot of discussions and debates, lot of arguments and then we settled on what we have today. The fact that we have our brand in a colour logo on the sidewall, again, I think that’s something very unique in the tyre industry. In India at least, I think nobody else has done it. 

Again, in the type of packaging that we do, the team has put in a lot of energy and effort into making sure that the product reflects the fact that it’s an aspirational product. And similarly, lot of energy went into testing these products, although we had so much support from our partners. The road conditions, the temperature conditions, the machines in India are so different from what is used in Europe or the US, so we wanted to be certain that the product will deliver the performance and we did extensive testing on Indian roads and in Indian conditions before launching the product.

Reise Moto is currently focussed on growing the range and extending the product line-up to include tyres for motorcycles above 300 cc, extending to over 1,000 cc.

I think all of this has been very well-appreciated by the market. I think the response has exceeded our expectations, the volume growth has been much faster than what we had expected. That gives us a lot of motivation to work even harder in growing the range, growing the distribution, or the marketing initiatives we are taking.

Reise Moto intends to develop tyres for the premium range and will offer a product for each segment in the Indian two-wheeler industry.

car&bike: So, will Reise address the demands and requirements of the entire spectrum of two-wheelers available in India?

Yes, in phase 1, we have addressed the commuter segment and the entry-level dual-sport segment, in phase 2, we will offer tyres starting from 300 cc all the way to 1000 cc, in both dual-sport and regular road-going variants. Product development is a continuous cycle and a process at our end as well. While we do have a huge library of products and that is part of the plan, however there are certain cycles that we follow on a month-on-month basis. So, therefore it’s only a matter of time, and priority that we will be introducing all these sizes subsequently. Our strategy is not to stop the product development cycle, and to continue to innovate, to continue to develop products for the premium range and continue to create tyres for each segment.

car&bike: As things stand today, where all across India, can one purchase the Reise tyres?

YM: Today, geographically we cover 60 per cent of India. We are well-represented in south India, west India, and most of north India. We’re still building our distribution in parts of north India and central and east India, that’s still work in progress. By June 2023, we expect that we will be available practically across India. 

On the other hand, in April 2023, we’re also looking to introduce these products through e-commerce, then that would be with national shipping, on reputed platforms. So, that would also be an option that will become available. 

Reise Moto intends to focus on providing purpose-built tyres, expects sales to ideally be split 50/50 between commuter and premium segments.

car&bike: Currently, do you see a trend in customer preferences in terms of sales, more towards the dual-sport segment, or towards the commuter segment?

YM: Today, we see that a third of our sales are in the more premium kind of specialised applications, what we call the premium patterns like the 50/50 tyres, and two-thirds of our volumes are from the commuter segment. We feel that this is over-indexed, because if you look at the market, the market is only 15-20 per cent premium and the rest is commuter. So, we’re already seeing a higher percentage of our sales coming from the premium patterns. In an ideal world, we would want to be half and half, as more people come to know of our products, and as our distribution grows, ideally we would want to see a half and half split in the categories.

Yogesh Mahansaria is the Founder & MD of Resie Moto. He has over three decades of experience in the Indian tyre industry. In 2016, Yogesh Mahansaria sold his company’s stake in off-highway tyre brand Alliance Tyre Group to Japanese firm Yokohama Rubber Co.

car&bike: Where do you see the Reise brand going from here in future? How do you define success for the Reise brand?

YM: Anytime someone is looking for a tyre to do something bespoke, for us, being the preferred brand for the aspirational/leisure consumer, or of the consumer who wants to do something different, or looking to do something different. Within that consumer set, we want to be the first preference. I feel if we can achieve that, the numbers will play out for themselves.

car&bike: Several Indian tyres brands are looking at the premium segment, and the scope is looking bright, particularly after the ban on import of tyres. How has that helped domestic tyres brands and even new brands like yours?

YM: As the income levels and affluence levels of India grows, aspirations of young India are growing. We wanted to do something that caters to that. Being a late entrant into the two-wheel segment, we were very clear that we just didn’t want to chase volumes like other players are doing. We wanted to have a value proposition that was beyond that. I think it worked quite well, because the customer is becoming more aware, more sophisticated, more demanding, so there’s a need in the market. The need in the market was earlier fed partly by imports which have now become difficult, so it’s natural for consumers to look at brands like ours, which offered them something more and something different, at the same time at easily accessible and affordable price points. I wouldn’t say our strategy came out of this import ban, but does it help new entrants like us? Absolutely.