Madras Rubber Factory Limited (MRF) is India's largest tyre manufacturer, founded in 1946, and expanded into various rubber products, paints, and toys. The company has a rich history of innovation, including collaborations with global brands and significant achievements in motorsports and cricket. MRF has received numerous awards for its quality products and has built a strong presence in both domestic and international markets.

1. 1
AN OVERVIEW ON THE MRF LIMITED
Varun kesavan, Research Scholar, E – Mail Id –
varunkesavan@yahoo.com
Madras Rubber Factory Limited, commonly known by the
abbreviation MRF, is an Indian multinational and the largest manufacturer
of tyres in India[1] and the fourteenth largest manufacturer in the world.[2] It is
headquartered in Chennai, India.[3] The company manufactures rubber
products including tyres, treads, tubes and conveyor belts, paints and
toys.[4]MRF also runs the MRF Pace Foundation, Chennai and MRF
Challenge in motorsport.

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HISTORY
Madras Rubber Factory was started by K. M. 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.[3] 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, United States.[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.[5]
In 1973, MRF started manufacturing Nylon tyres for the first time. The
Company entered into with a technical know-how collaboration
with B.FGoodrich in 1978. 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 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 United
States, 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.[6] During the year 2004-05, the product range of the
company expanded with Go-kart & rally tyres and tyres for two/three wheelers.

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PRODUCTS
 Tyres tyre manufactures various tyres for passenger cars, two–wheelers,
trucks, buses, tractors, light commercial vehicles and off–the–road
tyres.[4] 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.[6]
 Conveyor Belting – manufactures its in-house brand of Muscleflex
conveyor belts.
 Pretreads – MRF has the most advanced pre-cured retreading system in
India. MRF forayed into retreading in 1970 and manufactures pretreads for
tyres.[6]
 Paints - manufactures polyurethane paint formulations and coats used in
automotive, decorative and industrial applications.[4]
 Cricket - MRF manufactures cricket bats, gloves, pads and other
accessories.
MANUFACTURING FACILITIES
The company has manufacturing facilities for tyres at Kottayam in Kerala,
Puduchery, Arakonam and trichy 2 plants Perambalur in Tamil Nadu, Medak
in Telangana has two facilities one recently opened.[6] The company
manufactures toys at its facility in Goa. The paints and coats are
manufactured at two facilities in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

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FUNSKOOL
Funskool India was established in 1987 in collaboration with Hasbro toys,
USA. 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 from Disney, Warner Brothers, Rummikub, Dora
and . Funskool also has partnerships with renowned toy brands Hasbro, Lego,
Hornby, Ravensburger, Tomy Toys, Leap Frog, Siku, Jumbo and New Bright
for manufacture and marketing in India.
MOTORSPORTS
MRF RACING
MRF built its first Formula 3 car in 1997. MRF in collaboration with Maruti
established the Formula Maruti racing, a single-seater, open wheel class
motorsport racing event for race cars made in India.[1] MRF Challenge is a
Formula 2000 open-wheel motorsport formula based series organized by
Madras Motor Sports Club in association with MRF. The latest season
consisted of races organized at Madras Motor Racing Track, Chennai,
Bahrain International Circuit, Losail International Circuit, Doha and Buddh
International Circuit, Noida. Freddie Hunt, son of 1976 Formula One champion
James Hunt and Mathias Lauda, son of 1975, 1977 and 1984 Formula One
champion Niki Lauda both competed in the series.[10] MRF has sponsored
Indian racing drivers including Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandok, Ashwin
Sundar, N. Leelakrishnan and Raj Bharath.

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MRF RALLY TEAM
MRF have also been a long-running sponsor of MRF rally team participating in
Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and Indian National Rally Championship.
Associating with Czech car manufacturer Škoda, MRF Skoda is the three time
reigning champion in Asia-Pacific Rally Championship with Chris Atkinson
winning in 2012, Gaurav Gill in 2013 and Jan Kopecký in 2014.[11] MRF also
participates in Raid De Himalaya, the world's highest rally.
MRF MOTOCROSS
MRF promotes a national motocross championship, a form of all-terrain two
wheeler racing held on enclosed off-road circuits annually across several
cities.
MRF KARTING
MRF sponsors major karting championships in India. MRF is the first Indian
tyre company to develop FIA approved karting tyres.:[9]-)
CRICKET
MRF PACE FOUNDATION
MRF Pace Foundation is a coaching clinic for training fast bowlers established
by MRF with the help of former Australian pace spearhead Dennis Lillee in
Chennai, India. Through this program, young aspiring fast bowlers are trained
in a special facility.

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Fast bowlers who trained with foundation and went on to represent the Indian
Cricket Team include Javagal Srinath, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Venkatesh
Prasad, R. P. Singh, Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth. Besides Indian players,
foreign players like Chaminda Vaas, Henry Olonga, Heath Streak and
Australian fast bowlers Glenn McGrath, Mitchell Johnson and Brett 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.
ENDORSEMENT
MRF had been the bat sponsor for many cricketers of the game. Sachin
Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Steve Waugh have endorsed MRF products.[14]
MRF has also sponsored Indian batsmen Rohit Sharma,[15] Gautam Gambhir
and Sanju Samson. Currently MRF is endorsed by star batsmen Shikhar
Dhawan, Virat Kohli[16] and AB de Villiers.
SPONSORSHIP
At IPL 2010, MRF sponsored moored balloons floating above the cricket
grounds with a high-definition camera recording live actions of the cricket
match. MRF joined as a global partner of International Cricket Council for
2015 Cricket World Cup.[18] In 2017, MRF became the sleeve sponser for the
Premier League club Newcastle United.

7. 7
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
MRF won the JD Power Award for the record 11th time in 2014.[20] 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.