Apollo appoints ex-Goodyear OE specialist as senior vice president for North America

Apollo Tyres has appointed Steven Smidlein as the senior vice president for North America. This new role will be based in the firm’s New Jersey office and will see Smidlein reporting to Neeraj Kanwar, vice chairman and managing director, Apollo Tyres Ltd. An OE specialist, with previous experience at Goodyear, Steven Smidlein has spent most of his career working in various executive roles for car makers such as Chrysler, Honda and Accura in the US. According to the Apollo, Smidlein’s latest role sees him take responsibility for ”building the brand and sales in North America for both, Apollo and Vredestein”.

Commenting on this appointment, Neeraj Kanwar said: “With North America almost being an uncharted territory for us, Steven’s 30+ years of sales management and retail experience, especially in the automotive sector, will help establish both Apollo and Vredestein brands in this continent. We would be relying on his proven ability to grow market share, with a focus on delivery of aggressive sales targets.”