Apollo Tyres makes products that move the wheels of progress in over 100 countries. Apollo’s customers bank on it for their mobility needs, with the tyres providing them the assurance and confidence of a safe journey, where they can go the distance.
Discussing his company’s targets for 2020, Mr. Satish Sharma, President, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA), Apollo Tyres, says: “Our target is to build leadership in India by 2020. This will mean that we further strengthen our leadership position in the commercial vehicle segment and achieve pole position in other categories as well. As you would be aware, we are investing Rs. 2,700 crores in our Chennai facility to double our truck-bus radial facility from the current 6,000 tyres per day. While the first phase of this expansion kicks off in the 3rd quarter of this fiscal, we will have the full capacity by FY18. In addition, we are setting-up a separate facility for 4×4 tyres in our Vadodara plant, which is expected to be ready in the next 1-2 years.”
Apollo’s planned and focused strategy for the ASEAN and Middle East markets has already started bearing fruit. While the company exports its tyres from India and the Netherlands to these markets, the local sales and service teams help in reaching out to the customers. In the last 2-3 years of establishing its sales hub in these two regions, Apollo has been able to create a good market for its products.
“Our Global R&D Teams in India and Europe are continuously working towards coming out with better and technologically evolved products for our customers, be it in the passenger vehicle space or commercial vehicle tyres. In the next 3-4 years, we would largely focus on coming out with customer-acknowledged winning products through our research and development efforts and investments, build endearing corporate brand and product brands, thereby creating the pull for our products and continuously invest in our people to deliver to our promise as stated in our vision”, adds Mr. Sharma.