10 years after Apollo Tyres’ bid to acquire Cooper Tire fell through, vice-chairman and managing director Neeraj Kanwar says the company is putting its emphasis on back on North America and even hinted at the goal of building a tyre production facility there.
Apollo Tyres (UK) Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of Apollo Tyres Ltd, has been recognised as one of the Top Employers in the UK. The certification, awarded by the Top Employer Institute, a global authority on HR excellence, was based on an in-depth survey of Apollo Tyres Ltd’s London staff. The firm has an annual revenue of $2.8 billion. Its London team work in areas such as finance, digital and US trade growth.
Capacities at Apollo Tyres Ltd.’s production facilities in Europe were 88 per cent utilised between March and June 2022. The utilisation figure for the tyre maker’s plants in India was around 85 per cent, reports chief financial officer Gaurav Kumar. This gives the company little leeway for further growth in volumes, but Apollo Tyres believes it can address this issue without resorting to a greenfield or brownfield capacity expansion project.
In a move intended to further strengthen its product offering at home, Apollo Tyres Ltd. has launched its 2009-aquired Vredestein marque in India. Products sold in India bearing this long-established European brand name will be manufactured locally, and Apollo Tyres is initially offering a line-up of car and SUV tyres that will “cater to the premium and luxury segment” as well as motorcycle tyres for the “growing superbiking segment in India.”
Dutch tyre brand Vredestein is coming to India. During an investor call this month, parent company Apollo Tyres confirmed that Vredestein products are being manufactured in this market and will be introduced locally during the first quarter of 2021.
One way or another 2020 has been an eventful year for all of us. The same is true at Apollo Tyres where, at a global level, the company has had to navigate pandemic-related production pauses and restarts along with new factory openings and the decision to enter the two-wheel segment. At the same time as continuing to develop the Apollo brand, the company has also given the Vredestein brand a big push during the last month or so. First, with the launch of a new all-season range, then with the introduction of a new North American tyre line-up and – in order to support both – a pitch-side advertising partnership with Manchester United football club. Tyres & Accessories recently interviewed Neeraj Kanwar, vice chairman and MD, Apollo Tyres Ltd in order to find out more.
This interview appears in full in the November edition of Tyres & Accessories magazine. Not yet a subscriber? You can change that here.
Top management at Apollo Tyres have announced they’ve accepted a pay cut during the market difficulties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The tyre maker says it is also preparing to implement further measures.
Extending its sports sponsorship engagement beyond football, Apollo Tyres has entered into a five-year agreement with former Indian international cricketer and team captain Sachin Tendulkar. This is the first time an individual celebrity has served as Apollo brand ambassador.
Following internal discussions and review of a commissioned report produced by Ernst & Young, the Nominations & Remuneration Committee (NRC) within the Board of Directors at Apollo Tyres Ltd. has recommended changes to the compensation packages Onkar and Neeraj Kanwar receive from the company.
After opening its new European factory last year, Apollo Tyres is now focusing on expanding its manufacturing footprint at home. A ceremony was held today to lay the foundation stone of the tyre maker’s fifth plant in India and seventh facility worldwide. The new factory is located in Chinnapanduru, Andhra Pradesh state, and is expected to enter operation in mid-2020. Apollo Tyres is investing close to Rs 18 billion (£209.4 million) in the first phase of the new plant project.
Apollo Vredestein’s work to shift its Dutch brand’s replacement market focus to become an original equipment supplier has resulted in fitments on three major models. Vredestein, has been selected as a fitment on the Volkswagen Polo, Seat Ibiza and Ford EcoSport.
The opening of Apollo Tyres’ Gyöngyöshalász plant, 100km east of Budapest, marks a significant event for both the company’s global aspirations and the Indian tyre industry – the 72 hectare greenfield factory, begun in April 2015, is the first inaugurated by an Indian tyre company to come online outside the domestic market. The importance was reflected in the event itself, with some of the plant’s cavernous warehousing housing around 1,300 guests, among whose number was the prime minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, who declared Apollo’s sixth global tyre manufacturing plant – its second in Europe after the existing Netherlands facility acquired alongside Vredestein – open on 7 April.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. It is almost three years since Apollo Tyres Ltd’s planned takeover of Cooper Tire & Rubber fell apart, and now the company is in the running to acquire another top-15 global tyre maker. In an interview with Indian newspaper The Hindu, Apollo vice-chairman and managing director Neeraj Kanwar confirmed the submission of a non-binding bid to acquire Kumho Tire, however he also indicated that Apollo Tyres isn’t rushing into anything.
Last week, Apollo Tyres formally inaugurated a second Global R&D Centre to complement its existing global research and development facility in the Netherlands, which opened in 2013. The new centre is located just outside the city of Chennai, in Southern India, and was inaugurated by company chairman Onkar S Kanwar and vice-chairman and managing director Neeraj Kanwar in the presence of members of the company’s Supervisory Board and Management Board on 9 November.
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