Apollo Tyres has appointed automotive industry veteran Vikram Garga as Group Head, Marketing for the Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA) region. Vikram would be spearheading the regional marketing team and would be responsible for marketing and product strategy for all product categories, dealer programmes, brand positioning and monitoring performance in conjunction with sales.
Commenting on his appointment, Satish Sharma, President, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (APMEA), Apollo Tyres Ltd., said: “Vikram joins us in a senior leadership role for the region, and given his strong track record of providing strategic and operational leadership in FMCG and Automotive Industry, he would be a key asset for us going forward.”
Vikram joins Apollo Tyres from Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. (Automotive and Farm Equipment Business), where he was the Vice President and Head of Strategy, Insights and Analytics, and Innovation. Prior to that he was the Head of Marketing for Passenger Vehicles and Pick-Ups; he re-launched the iconic brand, Thar in 2020, led digital marketing transformation, as well as the new Mahindra SUV strategy. He has spent a large part of his career with Castrol, where he has held roles such as VP, Sales for Industrial and Heavy Duty and Global Brand Director for the Commercial Vehicle category, amongst other country and global roles.
Garga comes with a rich experience in developing and executing Sales and Marketing Strategy and delivering profitable growth across multiple consumer focused categories. He has led innovation in category creating, developed products, integrated marketing communications and activation programmes including go-to-market strategy at a global level. He has extensive experience in building global and local brands across their life stages. Vikram comes with experience of working in multi-culture, multi-competitive environments across Australia, South-east Asia, China, Europe and American markets, managing global brands and implementing category strategy across B2C and B2B segments.
Vikram Garga will be based out of Apollo Tyres’ corporate headquarters in Gurugram, India, and report to Satish Sharma. Speaking about his appointment, Vikram Garga said: “I have witnessed the company’s impressive journey from close quarters in the past few years. I am looking forward to driving and innovating the marketing strategy for best business results, and creating greater value for our customers and business partners across India and new growth markets of Asia, Middle East and Africa.”