By Denna Bowman

Apollo Tyres is expecting to boost its after market sales in Europe by next winter.

The Indian tyres manufacturer is currently selling approximately 50,000 Apollo tyres a month in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.

It predicts it will increase that to 60,000 to 65,000 by next winter (from September).

This is over and above the sales of ‘Vredestein’ branded tyres manufactured by its European outfit Apollo Vredestein BV. Apollo tyre was the first major made in India brand to be launched in Europe last year.

Mr. Neeraj RS Kanwar, CMD of Apollo Tyres, told Business Line: “The winter bookings have already begun and we are expecting sales to pick up in the coming season.”

He added: “We are not in a hurry to sell volumes. We are there to build a brand from India. Thankfully the customer feedback to our tyres is very good and we are slowly but steadily gaining ground.”

After experiencing two harsh winters, it is clear that winter sales are extremely important for tyre makers to gain customers’ confidence in Europe.

By Denna Bowman

Apollo has shipped its first passenger tyres to an original equipment customer from its new plant in Chennai, India.

India’s leading tyres manufacturer produced the shipment of 500 Acelere tyres for Hyundai Motor India Ltd just five months after the facility became operational.

Apollo’s greenfield plant in Chennai is the company’s ninth manufacturing unit globally and its fourth in India. It was built in 14 months and received OE supply certification and clearances four months after going online.

The factory is still under construction, according to Satish Sharma, the chief of Apollo Tyres India operations.

When the first phase is completed, the facility will be able to produce about 16,000 automobile and 6,000 truck and bus radial tyres a day and it will be the largest unit in the Apollo empire.

The Indian national flag and Apollo flag were hoisted in at the entrance to the plant to mark the occasion.

By Oliver Hall

Apollo tyres is working on a strategy to enter China as it drives forward with on its relentless mission to break into all the major markets across the globe.

The Indian tyres manufacturer is turning its attention to China, which is the world’s largest tyre pro- ducer, exporter and also a major consumer.

If Apollo succeed it will be a massive coup because at the moment no Indian tyre company has a presence in China, largely due to the over-capacity caused by the domestic industry and lack of transparency in regulations.

Onkar Kanwar, chairman of Apollo tyres, made the announcement at the launch of the company’s brand in Europe. He said: “We aim to be a global tyre producer with footprints in all corners of the world.

“With our entry here, we are now present in Asia, the Pacific region, Europe, Africa (through Dunlop), and America (Vredestein).

“Only China is out of bounds right now but we will chart a strategy to be present there as well, through either a joint venture or a contract manufacturing arrangement.”

By Denna Bowman

Apollo is in talks to supply tyres to German car manufacturer Volkswagen in Europe as it drives forward with its ambitious plans to ramp up global sales.

Neeraj Kanwar, managing director of Apollo, said: “Recently we have gone into VW, supplying tyres for the cars they are launching in India and we are in discussion to supply tyres to them in Europe.”

The company is also looking at leveraging from Dutch firm Vredestein, which it acquired last year, for supplying tyres to Volkswagen. Vredestein is already supplying to VW.

Marc Luyten, chief marketing officer for Apollo Vredestein, said: “Now we will talk about two brands to VW.”

The move is part of its strategy to enhance its global footprint as aims to achieve a turnover of $5 billion and propel itself into the top 10 tyre manufacturers in the world within the next five years.

Onkar S Kanwar, chairman of Apollo, said: “We are targeting to reach USD 5-billion-mark turnover in the next five years as we expand globally and ramp our capacities.”

The news comes on the back of last weeks move into supplying the after-sales market in Europe when the company launched its main brand Apollo.

Mr Kanwar added: “Our current range, catering to the small and mid-size segment, will meet the growing demand in Europe.”

He said the company would be supplying tyres to the European markets from its Baroda plant. Also, some of the tyres meant for the domestic market would be produced at its Vredestein facility in the Netherlands.

By Oliver Hall

Apollo has announced plans to introduce the European tyre brand Vredestein to the Indian market within the next twelve months.

The news comes just days after the ambitious Indian tyres manufacturer launched its Apollo brands in the European after-sales market.

Apollo, which acquired Netherlands-based Vredestein Banden BV (VBBV) from Russian tyre maker Amtel-Vredestein NV in 2009, is capitalising on the two brands reputations and using them to expand its global empire.

Rob Oudshoorn, CEO of Apollo Vredestein, said: “We are working on launching the Vredestein brand in India. We will look at introducing it within a year. We have been studying the demands of the Indian market in the premium segment.

“The only thing is that in India, tyres are of low-level and heavier ones, and more in the mass segment. Though we are in the high-performance segment, we are making our tyres lighter and lighter… We will look at certain adjustments for the Indian market. However, we will not compromise on technology.”

Earlier this week the company launched its brand of Apollo tyres into the European after-sales market.

According to company sources, this is the first time any Indian tyre brand will be venturing into this highly competitive market.

By Denna Bowman

Apollo tyres are now available in the UK as the Indian tyre manufacturer makes inroads into the European after-sales market.

The tyres company is launching its three home-grown passenger car tyre brands – Amazer 3G, Acelere, Aspire – and the Hawkz range of SUV tyres in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

The company has already dipped its toe in to the European tyre market through the acquisition of the Netherlands-based Vredestein Banden BV, rebranded as Apollo Vredestein BV.

According to company sources, this is the first time any Indian tyre brand will be venturing in this highly competitive market.

The launch ceremony took place yesterday at Europe’s largest tyre expo, Reifen 2010, in Essen in Germany, where Apollo also showcased its entire product range.

A spokesman for Apollo said: “To begin with, we are launching four brands primarily focusing on Germany, the Netherlands and the UK markets.

“Of the four, Amazer 3G and Acelere will be entry-level products. On the other hand, the ultra-high performance Aspire and Hawkz will be relatively premium; and will also come out with the winter tyre variants.”

Meanwhile, the company will continue to be represented in the premium range with its Vredestein tyres.

By Denna Bowman

Apollo tyres is launched a far-reaching environment initiative aimed at boosting its conservation and recycling efforts.

Onkar S Kanwar, chairman of the Indian tyres manufacturer, said at the launch of Habitat Apollo: “Our actions, no matter how small, have an effect on the planet. We have to be conscious of the negative impact our actions can cause and try to mitigate them responsibly.”

The objective Habitat Apollo is to actively work to conserve and recycle non-renewable resources in the most effective way.

While Apollo Tyres has been proactively working on conservation initiatives, including use of alternative energy sources like wind and solar power, water harvesting and recycling, Habitat Apollo is urging employees to bring about a change in individual eco-consumption and behaviour patterns -thereby ensuring that ‘green’ becomes a matter of habit at Apollo Tyres.

The first formal drive under the environment initiative is on paper recycling. Employees are encouraged to use both sides of a piece of paper, print only when necessary, and dispose in a special bin.

The paper collected from these bins is then taken for recycling and the recycling company gives Apollo Tyres office stationary in return.

The next initiative is to reduce the consumption of non-biodegradable materials the company uses.

To begin with, Apollo has decided to completely do away with the conventional polywrapping of tyres from the end of May 2010. Instead, tyres from Apollo will now sport labels.

These environment initiatives will complement the larger work that is taking place at the plant level, including the recycling of solid and water waste and replacing certain raw materials with environment friendly components.

By Oliver Hall

Apollo tyres have abandoned plans to build their own plant in Europe in favour of doubling capacity at their Vredestein Banden factory in the Netherlands.

The Indian tyres manufacturer acquired the Dutch plant in Enschede last year and is planning to boost its car tyre output to 10 million units in a series of steps.

Onkar Kanwar, chairman and managing director of Apollo, who announced the news at the Geneva Motor Show, did not go into specific details about investment costs and time scales.

Prior to buying Vredestein last year, Apollo had been scouting Europe for an appropriate site for a radial passenger tyre plant.

It had budgeted $300 million for the project and appeared to be leaning towards Hungary in early 2008. The plant was to have annual capacity of up to 7 million units and employment of up to 1,000.

Mr. Kanwar did not rule out completely the idea of a greenfield plant in Europe at a later time.

However, Apollo have decided to concentrate all their efforts in the immediate future on the Vredestein expansion and upgrading the Durban and Ladysmith, South Africa, plants of its Apollo Tyres South Africa subsidiary there.

By Alex Kapadia

Apollo tyres plan to raise tyre prices in the March quarter to maintain profit margins as raw material costs rise, according to a top official.

The Indian tyres manufacturer blamed the price hike on the increasing cost of natural rubber and crude oil and claimed it needed to raise prices to protect its margins.

Apollo already raised prices by 5% in January and by 3% in November, however Sunam Sarkar, the company’s chief financial officer, told Reuters: “There is every chance (of a price hike).

Mr Sarkar said that the benefit of low-cost inventory carried over from the September quarter offset some of the rise in input cost during the December quarter.

However, with raw materials accounting for 70 per cent of the tyre-making costs, Apollo cannot afford to shoulder the burden of rising prices without passing it on to customers.

Mr Sarkar said there is room for further increase in prices for the various tyres manufactured by the company, but declined to give more details.