Misbah Farooq

The General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan Limited

The General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan Limited (GTR) came into existence in 1963, at Landhi Karachi on a 25 acre plot and commenced its production in 1964. The Company was then established by General Tire International Corporation (GTIC) of USA, with a total capacity of only 120,000 tyres per annum. GTIC sold 90% of their shares to the present owners M/s Bibojee Services Ltd. in 1977 and retained 10% of the ownership. In 1985, the Company completed a major expansion, which took the capacity to 600,000 tyres annually. Continental AG, Germany's number one tyre manufacturer purchased GTIC in 1987 and thus became 10% owners in GTR. Continental provides Technical Assistance to GTR under a program, which includes training of our people, formulations, recipe, and selection of equipment and approved suppliers. GTR under this agreement with Continental is bound to follow all rules and regulations provided by Continental including the given quality standards. The brand name "GENERAL" used by GTR also belongs to Continental AG. Now this brand name is synonymous with quality and experience in the art of making tyres since being in this market for more than 50 years. The name ‘GENERAL' carries the highest top of the mind brand name recall in Pakistan when it comes to tyres. The capacity of the Company stands at 2.5 million tyres approximately meeting one third of the country's demand. General is producing tyre sizes and patterns that cover almost 85% of the sizes in demand in Pakistan. GTR is the first & largest automotive tyre manufacturer in the country producing tyres for cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks/buses, tractors, CNG Rickshaw. While motorcycle tyre plant has been added with the capacity of one million tyres per annum. Being a public listed Company; the current main sponsors of the Company beside Bibojee Services are Pak Kuwait Investment Company. NIT and of course Continental AG. The remaining shares are held by the general public.