A week ago, I had a meeting at CeeJay House in Worli. As usual, after the meeting, I went next door to Poonam Chambers, where the Mercedes-Benz service center is located, to see if there were any interesting cars. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything unusual, but as I was walking by on the ground floor, I noticed a lot of car equipment. I initially assumed it was Mercedes-Benz expanding their service center. Then I saw a significant amount of MRF Tyres branding and decided to walk in and inquire.
I ended up meeting the deputy manager, Awadesh Singh, who told me it was an initiative by MRF Tyres to showcase and educate people about tires, using only state-of-the-art technology. I was genuinely impressed because every piece of equipment they had was top-notch in its respective category. For example, for clampless wheel alignment, they use Corghi, an Italian company. And if anyone knows wheels and alignment, it’s the Italians!
The initiative is called MRF Tyredrome, and this is their fourth location. The other three locations are in Chennai and Kochi. Since MRF is headquartered in Chennai, it makes sense they have locations there. As a side note, MRF stands for Madras Rubber Factory, and it’s a publicly traded company listed on the NSE under the ticker MRF. The stock price is quite extraordinary, as each share is over Rs. 1 lakh, which is unprecedented in the Indian market. Can someone say stock split?
Back to the Tyredrome: since the Mumbai location has not been officially launched yet, they are offering free services to anyone who brings their car during the pre-launch phase. I brought in my Honda Accord and spent nearly two and a half hours on the shop floor, watching them run the car through various tests. What stood out was that every team member was extremely knowledgeable and able to explain the test results and the necessary steps to fix the identified issues.
I also brought in my Kia EV6, which had persistent wheel alignment issues that even the dealer couldn’t fix. Finding the MRF Tyredrome felt like serendipity because I had been searching for a service center that specialized in tire balancing, rotation, and alignment. Of course, the MRF Tyredrome handles all that and much more.
This is a genius way of spending part of their marketing money to build brand awareness and more importantly provide a service in a area which they are definitely experts in. Even more suprising about this Mumbai location is before they turned this ground floor into an “experience center” it was a godown/warehouse for the tires they sell in South Bombay…let me tell you that is some VERY expensive real estate for a warehouse! Considering that the building next door, CeeJay House was at one point the most expensive commercial real estate in India.
If you’re based in Mumbai and need help with your tires, this is definitely the place to go! Google Map Link. Below are several more images from the facility and the equipment they use.
celestri - virtual home of manish jain 