French oil major and lubes producer, Total, is set in to increase its presence in Asia.
The company is aiming to tap in to Asia's s rapidly expanding two-wheel and heavy vehicle market, with the opening of new speciality products and fuel additives reasearch centre - the first of kind for Total outside France.
India's motorcycle market showed a 14% year-on-year sales increase to March 2012, after growing by 26% in the previous year, while the Indonesian market were up almost 10%, giving a combined increase of more than 21 million new motorcycles across the two countries. By contrast, car sales growth was significantly lower.
The new Technical Center for Asia-Pacific (TCAP) will focus on testing domestically produced base oils and additives for Total-branded lubes with the aim of using more locally-produced products for its regional blending plant, including its new facility currently being built in Tianjin, China.