Apollo reaches half-decade TBR milestone in UK & Europe

With a market share of around 30 per cent, the Apollo brand is the strongest player in India’s enormous commercial vehicle segment. It only arrived in the UK five years ago, but Apollo Tyres’ truck and bus radial range is already very much at home here, and with 90 per cent of the products on offer now produced at the company’s European plant, the company is well positioned for further growth in this competitive sector. We recently caught up with Apollo to find out more.

John Nikhil Joy, Europe cluster director for truck and bus at Apollo Tyres, attributes the TBR business’s success in the UK over the past half a decade to “consistent product performance and having the right business partners and distribution network.” He doesn’t betray Apollo’s current market share or its ambitions in this area, but observes that the company is ”continuously improving” each year on its aim of profitable business for all stakeholders, including end users and business partners.

Distributed locally by TIA Tyres, the wholesaler formerly known as Treadsetters UK, the current Apollo range primarily focuses on solutions for regional applications. Available exclusively in 22.5-inch rim sizes, Apollo Tyres says its regional drive application tyres provide better traction and excellent all-weather performance, reduced rolling resistance, and enhanced mileage and durability.

They are sold under the EnduRace name in ten versions and a total of 20 dimensions, including the top-selling all-wheel EnduRace RAHD in size 295/80 R22.5. Other popular dimensions are the EnduRace RT2 regional trailer tyre in 385/65 R22.5 as well as the EnduRace RA regional all-wheel tyre in 315/80 R22.5 and 315/70 R22.5, EnduRace RD regional drive tyre in 315/70 R22.5 and 295/80 R22.5 and EnduRace MA mixed on-/off-road all-wheel tyre in 295/80 R22.5.

EnduRace RD2 additions

Another tyre that has proven a great success for Apollo since its launch last year is the EnduRace RD2. Produced in Europe, the EnduRace RD2 represents a “premium yet affordable” solution for truck operators and is suitable for medium- and long-distance transport. The existing size 315/80 R22.5 tyre was complemented by a 315/70 R22.5 counterpart in July and a further dimension, 295/80 R22.5, will arrive next March.

“The tyre is equipped with a unique groove tread pattern with Multi-Edge shoulder blocks, which provides optimised performance on slippery surfaces,” states Apollo Tyres. “Even patterns of wear across the tread are achieved thanks to a wider contact area, affording uniform pressure distribution, assisting with durability and rolling resistance. The reinforced casing contributes to the improved durability – 1.7 times greater than the European regulatory requirement – and enhanced tear resistance.”

“Since its launch in 2021, the EnduRace RD2 truck tyre has provided customers with superior levels of traction and durability in the highly competitive truck and bus sector,” adds Joy. “The continued success and sustained demand for the EnduRace RD2 range has led to this launch of new variants of the product, in dimensions larger and smaller than the original.”

In addition to the trio of 22.5-inch sizes now being rolled out, Apollo Tyres will also launch a second generation of 17.5-inch tyres in 2024, thereby covering dimensions that are today used by approximately 15 per cent of the European truck and bus sector.

Sustainability is addressed by the retreadability of all Apollo TBR tyres. John Nikhil Joy comments that Apollo Tyres prefers to work with local retreading partners in each market, an arrangement the company considers the ”best way to promote retreading.” In contrast with some competitors, the tyre maker has no plans to establish its own, centralised retreading facility anywhere in Europe.

Constant challenge

With costs for shipping and raw materials rising in recent times and availability of the latter sometimes uncertain, the past year has delivered headaches to truck tyre manufacturers and anyone selling these products in European markets. John Nikhil Joy acknowledges the “constant challenge” of working in an environment of rising input prices and shaky availability; these have led to “occasional” production disturbances.

As a local European manufacturer, Apollo Tyres also hopes for a successful appeal against the European Court of Justice’s May 2022 annulment of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on Chinese truck tyres. The best-case scenario for the tyre maker would be a continuation of the duties which had been levied since 2018. Joy comments that should this not be the case, Apollo expects “some impact on sales and growth” but is nonetheless confident that the other advantages of a local production presence will win through. “Most dealers and end users no longer wish to continue with unstable supply constraints due to unforeseen challenges, such as logistics costs, import duties and customs.”

Single-brand TBR strategy

Apollo Tyres turned 50 yesterday, being incorporated as a public limited company in India on 28 September 1972, five years before its first manufacturing facility in Perambra, Kerala was commissioned. Its entry into the TBR segment came in 2006 and followed a short-lived joint venture with Michelin, but the tyre maker only really began making inroads into Europe following its acquisition of Vredestein three years later.

The company has long pursued a two-brand strategy in Europe’s car tyre segment, with traditional Dutch brand Vredestein positioned at the upper end of the market; more recently, Apollo Tyres exported this strategy to North America and India. Both brands also represent the company in the agricultural segment, but truck tyres are strictly an Apollo-only affair.

The tyre maker’s aim in Europe’s hotly-contested TBR market is to offer customers top-tier mileage performance at a tier-two price, and this is a remit best fulfilled by the Apollo brand. Joy stresses that Apollo Tyres has no plans for a multi-brand TBR strategy at this point in time, either in Europe or anywhere in the world. “Our aim is to ensure the full implementation of business and operations under the Apollo name for TBR.”