Apollo Capacity Increases Ready by Mid-2009

Apollo Tyres makes no secret of its intention to become a market leader in India’s passenger car tyre segment, and during a press conference in Chennai the company’s head of India Operations, Satish Sharma, outlined the means by which Apollo plans to reach its goal.

Mr. Sharma stated that Apollo’s new Rs 5 billion (£61 million) greenfield facility in Oragadam, near Chennai, will be ready to enter production by June 2009 and have a daily production capacity of 30,000 passenger car tyres. The capacity expansion at Apollo’s Baroda plant, an upgrade costing the company Rs 1.5 billion (£18 million), is also scheduled for completion around that time. When complete, capacity at Baroda will increase by 5,000 units a day to 15,000 units.

Sharma then outlined a four-pronged strategy Apollo will follow in its quest for market leadership in passenger car tyres – increasing the product range, an aggressive focus upon the OE market, the establishment of exclusive Apollo brand retail chain outlets across India, and heavy investment in the Apollo brand. More specific details were not given, however Sharma did point out that the company typically spends about 8 per cent on advertising and market promotion.