Luyten to Lead New Apollo Global Marketing Structure

As of January 1, 2010 a new global marketing structure will become operational at Apollo Tyres Ltd, under the leadership of chief marketing officer Marc Luyten, who currently holds the position of director, Marketing & Sales at Apollo Vredestein B V, in Enschede, the Netherlands. Luyten will spearhead the global marketing of Apollo’s key product brands, assisted by a team of product brand managers responsible for individual brands across all regions.

“In a rapidly growing organisation like ours, Marc Luyten and his team will be bringing in the much-needed synergy across locations, and adding enormous value by building each of these product brands with their distinctive value proposition,” stated Apollo Tyres managing director Neeraj Kanwar.

The implementation of a revised global marketing structure reflects the ongoing integration of Apollo Tyres India and the two tyre makers it has purchased, Vredestein Banden (May 2009) and Dunlop Tyres in South Africa (2006). Since their acquisition both companies have undergone a name change and are now registered as Apollo Tyres South Africa Pty Ltd and Apollo Vredestein B V, respectively. The team under Marc Luyten will focus upon enhancing each product brand’s position globally, in both the OE and replacement market sectors.
 
During his time as director, Marketing & Sales at Vredestein Banden, Marc Luyten played a central role in creating Vredestein’s profile, positioning the brand and establishing its network of sales subsidiaries across Europe and North America. He will now be based in Brussels and report directly to Neeraj Kanwar. Speaking about his enhanced portfolio, Luyten said: “Moving into a true global company now brings all of us around the world phenomenal opportunities. The market has been inspiring us for so many years and will continue to encourage us in our thinking and acting as a market and customer-driven company.”

A separate Gurgaon, India based team under Neeraj Kanwar will oversee all corporate image and brand-building initiatives for Apollo Tyres Ltd.