History
Madras Rubber Factory was started by K. 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, USA.[1] 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.[1] In 1967, it became the first Indian company to export tyres to USA.[4]
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.[5] The Mansfield Tire & Rubber Co sold out is share in 1979 and the name of the company was changed to MRF Ltd in the year. The company finalized 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.[1] In 1989, the company collaborated with Hasbro International USA, 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.[5] 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 tyre manufactures various tyres for passenger cars, two–wheelers, trucks, buses, tractors, light commercial vehicles and off–the–road tyres.[3] The major products include MRF Nylogrip for bikes, MRF ZVTs and MRF Wanderers for cars and SUVs, MRF Meteor all terrain tyres, MRF Steel Muscle for trucks and buses.[5]
Conveyor Belting – manufactures its in-house brand of Muscleflex conveyor belts.[5]
Pretreads – MRF has the most advanced precured retreading system in India. MRF forayed into retreading in 1970 and manufuctures pretreads for tyres.[5]
Paints - manufactures polyurethane paint formulations and coats used in automotive, decorative and industrial applications.[3]
Manufacturing facilities
The company has manufacturing facilities for tyres at Kottayam in Kerala, Puduchery, Arakonam and Perambalur in Tamil Nadu, Medak in Telangana.[5] The company manufactures toys at its facility in Goa. The paints and coats are manufactured at two facilities in Chennai , Tamil Nadu.
