The UK-based Morris Lubricants has announced its entry into the Indian market with George Oakes, an Amalgamations Group company, as its sales and distribution partner.

The 148-year-old manufacturer of lubricants has set up its fully-owned Indian subsidiary - Paterson Lubricants India Pvt Ltd, which will be headquartered in Mumbai. It will focus on western and southern regions in the initial years.

“We will be the second UK lubricant brand to enter India. Since local production is important for a market like India, Morris will be blending its lubricants locally through a partnership,” said Wilkins, Director, Paterson Enterprises, which sells Morris brand of lubricants. It is betting big on its partnership with George Oakes, which has been distributing spare parts of more than 22 brands and automotive OEMs. George Oakes has 36 branches in southern and western regions and is supplying to over 5,000 retailers. “We expect these two markets, which are strong demand centres, to show some traction for Morrison products in the near term,” said Krishna Kaushik, Chief Executive Officer, George Oakes.

Morris is introducing a range of lubricants for cars, commercial vehicles, tractors and two-wheelers. It is also planning to launch premium segment engine oils for BS-IV market and also semi-synthetic and synthetic motor oils for cars and bikes.

Rosefield DAA International Consultancy, Mumbai, did a market study for Morris.The Indian lubricant industry is estimated at 2.5 million kilolitres per annum valued at about ₹32,000 crore and is expected to grow at 4-5 per cent annually.

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