 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| BSE: 500290 NSE: MRF | |
| ISIN | INE883A01011 |
| Industry | |
| Founded | 1946; 79 years ago (1946) inTiruvottiyur,Madras, India |
| Founder | K. M. Mammen Mappillai |
| Headquarters | , India |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
| Products |
|
| Revenue |  ₹28,561 crore (US$3.4 billion) (2025)[1] |
 ₹2,479 crore (US$290 million) (2025)[1] | |
| ₹1,869 crore (US$220 million) (2025)[1] | |
| Total assets | ₹29,567 crore (US$3.5 billion) (2025)[1] |
| Total equity | ₹18,489 crore (US$2.2 billion) (2025)[1] |
Number of employees | 17,850 (2025) |
| Website | www |
MRF, orMRF Tyres, is an Indianmultinational tyre manufacturing company and the largest manufacturer of tyresin India. It is headquartered inChennai.[2] The abbreviationMRF comes from the company's initial days when it was called asMadras Rubber Factory. The company manufactures rubber products includingtyres,treads, tubes andconveyor belts,paints andtoys.[3] MRF was named the world's second-strongest tyre brand by Brand Finance, with a AAA− brand grade.[4]
MRF is also active in cricket and motorsports endorsements; it runs theMRF Pace Foundation and MRF Institute of Driver Development (MIDD) in Chennai.
MRF was started byK. M. Mammen Mappillai as a toy balloon manufacturing unit in 1946 atTiruvottiyur,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 withMansfield Tire & Rubber company based in Ohio, United States.[5] The company went public on 1 April 1961 and an office was established inBeirut, Lebanon to develop the export market in 1964 and its current logo of the muscleman was born.[5] In 1967, it became the first Indian company to export tyres to USA.[6]
In 1973, MRF started manufacturingNylon tyres for the first time. The company entered into with a technical know-how collaboration withB. F. Goodrich in 1978.[7] The Mansfield Tire & Rubber Co sold out its share in 1979 and the name of the company was changed to MRF Ltd in the year. The company finalised a technical collaboration agreement with Marangoni TRS SPA, Italy for the manufacture of pre-cured tread rubber for retreading industry. MRF tyres supplied tyres toMaruti 800, India's first modern small car.[5] In 1989, the company collaborated withHasbro International, 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 withItalian tyre manufacturerPirelli for conveyor and elevator belt manufacture.[7] During the year 2004–05, the product range of the company expanded with Go-kart & rally tyres and tyres for two/three wheelers.[citation needed]
The company also manufactures toys at its facility inGoa. The paints and coats are manufactured at two facilities in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.[9]
Funskool India was established in 1987 in collaboration with Hasbro toys, US. Funskool manufactures and markets toys, board games among others. It has a manufacturing facility in Goa, India. The company has manufacturing licenses for toys and games fromDisney,Warner Brothers,Rummikub etc. Funskool also has partnerships with renowned toy brands such asHasbro,Lego,Hornby,Ravensburger,Tomy Toys,LeapFrog,SikuJumbo, andNew Bright for manufacturing and marketing in India.[10]
MRF built its firstFormula 3 car in 1997.[11] MRF in collaboration withMaruti established theFormula Maruti racing, a single-seater, open wheel class motorsport racing event for race cars made in India.[5]MRF Challenge is aFormula 2000 open-wheel motorsport formula based series organised byMadras Motor Sports Club in association with MRF. Thelatest season consisted of races organised atMadras Motor Racing Track, Chennai,Bahrain International Circuit,Losail International Circuit, Doha andBuddh International Circuit, Noida. Freddie Hunt, son of1976Formula One championJames Hunt andMathias Lauda, son of1975,1977 and1984 Formula One championNiki Lauda both competed in the series.[12] MRF has sponsored Indian racing drivers includingNarain Karthikeyan,Karun Chandok,Ashwin Sundar,N. Leelakrishnan andRaj Bharath.[citation needed]
MRF is the first and only Indian manufacturer to have won the Team Championship at the prestigious FIA European Rally Championship, not once, but twice in 2022 and 2023.
MRF have also been a long-running sponsor of an MRF rally team participating in theAsia-Pacific Rally Championship andIndian National Rally Championship. Associating with Czech car manufacturerŠkoda, MRF Skoda is the three time reigning champion in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship withChris Atkinson winning in2012,Gaurav Gill in2013,Jan Kopecký in2014,[13]Pontus Tidemand in2015 and Gaurav Gill again in2016 and2017. MRF also participates inRaid De Himalaya, the world's highest rally.[14]
MRF entered theEuropean Rally Championship in2020, with WRCHyundai driverCraig Breen and Emil Lindholm driving for the team.
MRF remained in ERC for 2021 and also joined several other rally championships.Craig Breen, along with Italian Simone Campedelli are set to participate inEuropean Rally Championship. Campedelli, along with eleven-time Italian rally championPaolo Andreucci and the 2017 ERC Ladies championTamara Molinaro will use the tyres while competing in the Italy Gravel rally championship. Emil Lindholm left ERC and instead will focus entirely on testing the tyres on the gravel roads of Finland. After the 2021 Rally di Roma Capitale, Breen was replaced by otherHyundai drivers,Jari Huttunen andDani Sordo, as well asNil Solans later on.
MRF entered Norbert Herczig, Simone Campedelli and the 2021 runner-upEfren Llarena for the 2022 campaign, with Llarena taking his first win during 2022 Rallye Azores.
In2023, Team MRF Tyres successfully defended their FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) Teams’ title with a dominant performance. Latvian driverMartins Sesks, alongside co-driverRenars Francis, secured back-to-back victories at Rally Poland and Rally Liepaja, making Sesks the only driver to win multiple rallies that season. Additional podium finishes by teammates Efrén Llarena and Sara Fernández at Rally Islas Canarias, and consistent performances from Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton, contributed to the team’s success. MRF Tyres clinched the championship with two rounds to spare, finishing 54 points ahead of their nearest rivals,BRC Racing Team.
The2024 season presented new challenges for Team MRF Tyres, who ultimately finished second in the ERC Teams’ Championship with 167 points, trailing BRC Racing Team. Despite the setback, the team celebrated a significant victory at the season finale, Rally Silesia in Poland, where Italian driver Andrea Mabellini and co-driver Virginia Lenzi claimed their maiden ERC win. Mabellini’s triumph was particularly noteworthy, as he became the first Italian in 13 years to win a European rally outside Italy.
MRF promotes a national motocross championship, a form of all-terrain two wheeler racing held on enclosed off-road circuits annually across several cities.[11]
MRF sponsors majorkarting championships in India. MRF is the first Indian tyre company to developFIA approved karting tyres.[11]
MRF Pace Foundation is a coaching clinic for trainingfast bowlers established by MRF with the help of formerAustralian Pace spearheadDennis Lillee in Chennai, India. Through this program, young aspiring fast bowlers are trained in a special facility. Fast bowlers who trained with foundation and went on to represent theIndian Cricket Team includeJavagal Srinath,Irfan Pathan,Munaf Patel,Venkatesh Prasad,R. P. Singh,Zaheer Khan andS Sreesanth. Besides Indian players, foreign players likeChaminda Vaas,Henry Olonga,Heath Streak andAustralian fast bowlersGlenn McGrath,Mitchell Johnson andBrett Lee have also trained at the foundation.Sachin Tendulkar in his early days trained in the MRF Pace Foundation to become a fast bowler.Glenn McGrath was appointed director of the Foundation on 2 September 2012, replacing Dennis Lillee, who has held the post since its inception in 1987.[15]
MRF has been the bat sponsor for many great cricketers of the game.Sachin Tendulkar,Brian Lara andSteve Waugh.[16] Currently MRF is endorsed byVirat Kohli, andShubman Gill.[17][18] MRF has also sponsored Indian batsmenRohit Sharma,[19]Gautam Gambhir,Sanju Samson,Shikhar Dhawan andMignon du Preez.
AtIPL 2010, MRF sponsoredmoored balloons floating above the cricket grounds with a high-definitioncamera recording live actions of the cricket match. MRF joined as a global partner ofInternational Cricket Council for2015 Cricket World Cup.[20] In 2017, MRF became the sleeve sponsor for thePremier League clubsNewcastle United,[21]West Ham United F. C.[22] and official tyre partner forWest Bromwich Albion.
MRF won the JD Power Award for the record 11th time in 2014.[23] The company has won several awards and accolades including the All India Rubber Industries Association's (AIRIA) award for 'Highest Export Awards (Auto Tyre Sector)', 'Top Export Award' from Chemicals & Allied Products Export Promotion Council (CAPEXIL) for 2009–10. In 2014, MRF was ranked 48th among India's most trusted brands according to the Brand Trust Report, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory.[24]
In April 2022, theCompetition Commission of India raided the headquarters of MRF along with other tyre companies likeApollo Tyres,CEAT andContinental Tyre at multiple locations. Earlier in February the anti trust watch dog had released a statement about fining these tyre companies a total of Rs 1788 crores (of which MRF fined Rs 622.09 cr.) for sharing price sensitive information among themselves to manage their cartelization of tyre prices for supplies to the public transport corporation of Haryana state. Earlier the All India Tyre Dealers Federation had complained to the Ministry of corporate affairs about this cartelization of these companies to increase the tyre prices. The ministry had then referred the case to the CCI.[25]
