Apollo Tyres to launch brand in Europe

ERJ staff report (DS)

Essen, Germany -- Following the acquisition of Dutch tyre maker Vredestein Banden in May 2009, India's Apollo tyres is launching its brand into the European car tyre business from 1 June 2010.

Initially the company's efforts will be focussed on replacement sales in Germany, Netherlands, Italy and the UK. Then from 2011, sales will go European-wide. The company said Europe offers the highest margins of any market in the world. The next step will be further expansions in Asia, notably in Eastern Asia, though the company is still working onhow to address the China market with its different brands.

However, in parallel with the replacement sales, the company aims to develop Apollo as a global original equipment brand. The company's Vredestein brand will remain a premium product aimed at specialist replacement markets, such as tuners and winter tyres in Europe, India and elsewhere.

In the OE segment, Neeraj Kanwar, managing director, said that the company is currently supplying BMW with Apollo-brand tyres in India and is in talks to supply the company with Apollo-branded tyres in Europe. The company is also recognised as a global brand by Volkswagen and is likely to win a European VW fitment in the near future, said Sunam Sarkar, chief Financial Officer.

Apollo reported sales of Rs 81.2 billion (Euro 1419 million) in the 12 months to March 2010, up by 63 percent from Rs 49.8 billion reported a year ago. The company said it aims to reach sales of US$ 2 billion by March of 2011 and to be in the top ten global tyre makers, with sales of around US$ 5 billion by 2015.

The company used the opening of the Reifen show in Essen, germany to launch its latest winter trres - the Y-rated Sportrac Nextreme. Rob Oudshoorn, CEO of Vredestein Banden said this is the only Y-rated winter tyre available in the European market.