A survey commissioned by Apollo Tyres has found that only six per cent of motorists in the UK are able to correctly identify a tyre’s load rating. Worse still, it turns out we’re only half as good at accomplishing this task as the Germans are. Thankfully, younger Brits give hope that this may change in future.
The Vredestein tyre brand is to become an Official Sponsor of the 2023 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, which will take place in Courchevel Méribel, France, between 6 and 19 February 2023. Apollo Tyres, owner of the Vredestein brand, signed the sponsorship deal to “help drive awareness of the award-winning Vredestein winter and all-season tyre ranges.”
Apollo Tyres has appointed Shobhit Arora as its new Country Sales Manager for the UK. He brings over 14 years of experience at Apollo Tyres to the role, having begun his career as a Graduate Engineer Trainee for the company in India in 2008. Since then, Arora has worked across many areas of the business in India and Europe, most recently as Distribution and Business Development Manager at Apollo Tyres’ European headquarters in the Netherlands.
The Vredestein tyre brand has been present in North America for two years now, and Apollo Tyres is expanding the range offered there with the USA launch of the Vredestein Pinza HT. This newest addition to the Pinza family is a highway all-season tyre designed for trucks, SUVs, and crossovers.
December is approaching and so is the Vredestein Quatrac Pro EV. Europe’s first dedicated all-season electric vehicle tyre will arrive next month, with Apollo Tyres promising a “range of advanced design features and materials.” Developed specifically for year-round use by battery electric vehicles and hybrids, Apollo has created the tyre to deliver greater driving range while providing superior levels of grip and traction in all conditions – including ice and snow.
During Apollo Tyres’s recent celebration of 25 years of Traxion agricultural tyre technology, Europe president Benoit Rivallant set an ambitious target of growing the company’s off-highway tyre (OHT) revenue by 50 per cent. In Europe, 16 per cent of total revenue originates from the off-highway tyre sector. This compares with 63 per cent from passenger car tyres, 12 per cent from truck and bus tyres, 8 per cent from spare tyres, 1 per cent from bicycle tyres and 1 per cent from other products. In other words, the 16 per cent originating from off-highway tyre sales is a strategically important figure, 92 per cent of which comes from the agricultural sub-segment. Tyres & Accessories took time out with the company’s European head in order to find out more about how executives plan to achieve such ambitious targets in the context of a broadly challenging tyre market environment.
From 1 October 2022, Apollo Tyres will stop direct sales of Vredestein tyres in Norway and transfer distribution to wholesaler Norgesdekk. The two parties have negotiated an exclusive distribution deal covering supply of Vredestein-brand passenger car, light truck and classic tyres. Apollo Tyres Nordic AB will continue to sell the company’s off-highway and truck/bus products in all Nordic markets.
Strong demand for its two-wheeler tyres in India prompted Apollo Tyres to delay the rollout of its Vredestein motorcycle tyre range for Europe. But with a stated strategic focus upon the “premium motorcycling space” and market share for such products exceeding 20 per cent in India, it is highly feasible that Apollo will revisit its European plans at a later date. The company’s latest premium domestic products give us an idea of what we can expect.
In the run-up to the launch of its first Vredestein tyre developed specifically for electric vehicles (EV), Apollo Tyres asked 1,000 motorists if they were aware that such products even exist. The response wasn’t encouraging, with the results suggesting that 82 per cent of UK motorists are unaware it is possible to purchase specifically-developed EV tyres.
Apollo Tyres is investing in agricultural tyre production at its Enschede plant in the Netherlands. With the addition of new equipment for producing tyres up to 2.30 metres in diameter, the company aims to increase its agricultural tyre volumes in Europe and North America.
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.
Following a five-year global research and development programme, Apollo Tyres is launching its first dedicated all-terrain tyre: the Vredestein Pinza. Designed to be the “most capable off-road Vredestein tyre ever” while at the same time offering “superior standards of on-road grip, traction, rolling resistance and refinement,” Apollo says the Pinza has “the best balance of on- and off-road capabilities of any all-terrain tyre on the market.”
Key wear resistance qualities previously found on the Vredestein Traxion+ now feature in the Traxion 70 thanks to a complete renewal of the brand’s 70-series line-up. Apollo Tyres released the first dimensions in the new 15 size, 25 SKU range this month; all are available in the aftermarket, and a number of tractor manufacturers will also fit Traxion 70 as original equipment.
A new Vredestein tyre specifically developed for electric vehicles (EVs) will debut later this year. Sharing a few details about this upcoming all-season product, Apollo Tyres says it is currently evaluating the tyre through computer simulation and at proving grounds around the world following a “major new research and development programme” that includes close collaboration with leading car manufacturers.
Vredestein
Anthony/Tyre Industry Publications Ltd.