Apollo Tyres 'picks Hungary for new manufacturing plant'

ERJ staff report (TP)

Bratislava – Apollo Tyres has picked Hungary for its new manufacturing plant, according to Slovakian daily newspaper Hospodárske noviny on 31 May.

The town of Sala (Vágsellye in Hungarian) was in the race for the Indian tire maker’s new plant, but Stanislav Jurikovié – spokesman for the Slovakian Economy Ministry – told the paper they have lost the investment because “there are too few appropriate industrial parks in Slovakia”.

The town of Sala had been in intensive talks with the officials of the company for three months, but Apollo told them on 29 May that it would choose Hungary for the new project – Martin Alföldi, mayor of Sala, told the paper.

"Lower taxes are also in favour of Hungary," Mária Valachyová, analyst at the Slovakian Takarékpénztár (savings fund), told the website portal bumm.sk – adding that cheaper labour could also have been a factor.

Bumm.sk also spoke with Luis Ceveniz, president of Apollo Vredestein BV, responsible for Apollo Tyres’ Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and Americas businesses.

He said the decision to choose Hungary was based on economic aspects – such as costs, expertise, the available raw material and the quality of infrastructure.

ERJ spoke with Apollo on 27 May at the Reifen trade show in Essen, Germany. At that time the firm was thinking about its location in east Europe, but had not made a decision.