Apollo Tyres opens Malaysian office

Apollo Tyres Ltd has inaugurated a new office in the ASEAN region’s third largest automotive market. Satish Sharma, president of the tyre maker’s Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA region), inaugurated the company’s Malaysian office in the presence of select business partners and company officials.

A focus on expanding its footprint in Southeast Asia has been order of the day at Apollo Tyres ever since the establishment of a new sales and distribution hub in Bangkok three years ago. Apollo is targeting a bigger share of the Malaysian replacement tyre market, in which some 580,000 truck-bus radials and 9.5 million passenger car tyres are sold. The company states it is “building a complete team of sales and service personnel to service the Malaysian customers.”

Speaking on the inauguration of the Malaysian office, Satish Sharma said: “Over the past two to three years we have been making steady inroads into the Malaysian market as this is a pivotal market for our growth in the region. Our product range fits well with the Malaysian consumer requirements and with the support of our key distribution and retail partners in Malaysia, we have been able to penetrate most of the key replacement tyre market segments. Now that we have a foothold in Malaysia, we believe it is the perfect time to step up our focus in this market with the establishment of the Apollo Tyres’ Malaysian subsidiary.”

With one of the best road infrastructures in the entire ASEAN region, Malaysia has a radialisation level of more than 90 per cent in the commercial vehicle segment. Apollo Tyres, with its Apollo Endurace range of truck-bus radials, is keen to further establish the Apollo brand in the top tier of the truck-bus radial market. Similarly, Apollo’s passenger car tyres portfolio is capable of servicing nearly 90 per cent of the Malaysian car tyre market, which is currently, one of the largest in the ASEAN region.

“The setting-up of this office, and a legal entity, in addition to accelerating our revenue growth in this market, will also bring us closer to the Malaysian customers and help us better meet their requirements across the entire spectrum of applications,” added Sharma.