Reports: Apollo planning to re-enter US market

Apollo Tyres is planning to re-enter the US market, following the failed takeover of Cooper a few years ago and group brand Vredestein’s bid to enter the US when it was owned by now-defunct Russia firm Amtel a few years earlier.

According to Live Mint, Kanwar has put together a team to execute a US-entry action plan. This team will be led by Steven Smidlein, an ex-Goodyear Tire and Rubber manager who has been named senior vice president for North America and will be responsible for building the brand and sales in the region for both Apollo and Vredestein.

Two R&D executives will also be joining, according to the reports.

Kanwar was quoted as saying: “Our coverage of product mix is only 10 per cent of the American car market. The first challenge is to take it to 70 per cent. That will only be done through R&D”.

Apollo aims to become a US$6 billion company globally by 2020, up from around $3 billion currently. Live Mint reported that Apollo currently exports roughly 150,000 tyres to the US. cja