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Apollo First Quarter Revenues up 15%

Apollo Tyres Ltd has reported that it achieved consolidated first quarter revenues of 13.2 billion rupees (£155 million), up 15 per cent from 11.5 billion rupees during the same period last year. During the same period, consolidated net post tax profit grew 7.3 per cent to 586.6 million rupees (£6.87 million).

Commenting on the results, Onkar S Kanwar, chairman & managing director, Apollo Tyres Ltd, said: “These are probably one of the most challenging times we have faced as a company.”

18th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Indian Tyre Industry Faces Price Fixing Probe

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has suggested that there may be an issue of price fixing within the Indian tyre industry.

According to a study carried out at the Jawaharlal Nehru University and commissioned by the CCI, certain companies have enjoyed similar sales realisation with “widely differing profit rates.”

14th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Indian Tyre Shares Boosted in Wake of Hikes

As promised, the price hikes across some of India’s premier tyre manufacturers have been implemented. JK Tyre raised its truck tyre prices by 6 per cent, while Ceat raised non-commercial vehicle tyres by the same quantity. Meanwhile, Apollo has raised prices across segments by 7 per cent.

Following the hikes, shares in each of the companies went up in value, JK Tyres the leaders with a rise of 1.86 percent, closing in Mumbai at 96.05 rupees.

10th July 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Prices Continue to Rise in Developing Economies

Next month will see the rapid upward trend of tyre prices in eastern nations continue, as manufacturers and dealers in the United Arab Emirates have agreed to a uniform rise of six per cent across the board.

Head of the Bridgestone Tyre Centre in Dubai, Abdul Hayee, told journalists that the price increase – to be implemented on 1 July – has been necessitated by raw material costs spiralling upwards, a statement confirmed by Babu Karunanandan of Abu Dhabi Tyres. He added that “the UAE is a place where automobiles are an integral part of life and motorists have no other option but to accept the revised prices.

Meanwhile, in India tyre companies are plumping for another hike only two months after the last increase in May. JK Tyre has told domestic journalists that it plans a growth in prices of around six per cent in August, further to the two increases of 2.5 per cent each in January and June. In addition Apollo Tyres have already raised prices by five per cent in the current month.

24th June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Opens First India CV Tyre Outlet

Apollo Tyres has opened its first full-service branded commercial vehicle tyre outlet in India. Located in Salem, in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, the new outlet is called Apollo Trust, and is the first of a number of outlets that will be established in large trucking halt points outside city limits and along India’s national highways. Apollo reports the Salem centre is equipped with the latest commercial vehicle wheel aligning, tyre balancing and nitrogen gas inflation equipment and staffed with highly trained employees. Therefore, the company adds, Apollo Trust is best positioned to cater to the unique and demanding needs of India’s commercial vehicle operators and drivers, who currently utilise both cross ply and radial tyres.

Plans are underway to gradually increase the Apollo Trust network to five locations in the next few months, offering tyres and tyre-related services, alongside the sale of retreaded tyres and retreading materials. Apollo Tyres states in a press release it felt the need to introduce such service-oriented outlets to “assist customers move up the value proposition, enabling them to chose the appropriate application for their vehicles and operational needs through informed decision making.”

29th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Discusses Wider Capacity Expansion Plans

Apollo Tyres has already discussed plans to increase capacity at its Gujarat and Kerala factories, and these projects are part of a wider plan to invest Rs 20 billion (£236.6 million) enhancing domestic and international production capacities. In addition to these expansions, the company will set up a new facility in Chennai.

According to Apollo Tyres chief of India Operations Satish Sharma, the company shall invest this sum over next three years, more than half of which, 200 million euros, would go towards its facility in Hungary. As part of the domestic capacity expansion, Apollo Tyre’s Vadodara plant will see its capacity of passenger car tyre go up from the existing 10,000 tyres a day to 15,000 tyres a day, by around mid-2009. The company will also enhance its truck and bus radial tyres capacity at Vadodara from the existing 300 tyres a day to around 1,100 tyres a day over the same timeframe.

27th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Chinese CV Tyre Imports Continue Unabated in India

The Indian government’s July 2007 anti-dumping legislation is having little effect on the numbers of Chinese truck and bus tyres being brought into the subcontinent. Instead increased numbers of Chinese-produced radials are being imported into India. According to a Hindu Business Line report, there has been no reduction in the share of Chinese tyres in this part of the domestic replacement market; and the price differential between Indian products remains in the range of 10-30 per cent. Imports of commercial vehicles tyres have reportedly skyrocketed in the last five years, with the Chinese tyres making up 91 per cent of the overall tyres tyre imports, according to ATMA figures tracking the market between September 2007 and March 2008.

27th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Tyres To Increase Capacity

Apollo Tyres has said that it will invest Rs 1,000 crore (around US$237 million) this year to increase capacity at its factories in Gujarat and Kerala. The projected production increase is 10 per cent on the current figure of 850 tonnes/day.

15th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Half of Tyrexpo Asia’09 Stand Space Already Sold

Exhibitors have snapped up more 50 per cent of the floor space at next year’s Tyrexpo Asia show despite there being 11 months to go before the event opens its doors at the Singapore Expo Centre, between 24-26 March 2009. As well as the early commitment to taking space, ECI also report that companies are generally taking larger stands to promote their products and services than at previous shows.

According to organisers ECI International, the strong demand for space has justified the decision to bring the show forward from its traditional scheduling in September. Sales director Rowena Suthers said: “We have been delighted by the response which has already seen dozens of companies commit themselves to the event. We brought the show forward by six months to create more space in the calendar for our exhibitors and the reaction so far has backed this decision decisively.”

14th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo In Discussions About New Hungary Factory

The local council of Gyöngyös in North-Eastern Hungary has been holding discussions with Apollo Tyres to establish a factory in the region. The go-ahead would depend on Apollo Tyres acquiring all of the necessary permits for the plant’s construction, said mayor Attila Végh said on May 13.

According to Hungary’s BBJ business weekly, the factory’s planned construction has met with opposition from locals who believe it will endanger the region’s winegrowers and fruit farmers.

14th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo & JK to Supply OTR Tyres for BEML/Coal India JV

Indian mining equipment manufacturer BEML Limited has reported details of the agreement it has entered for the production of OTR tyres to meet its requirements. The 12-year deal it has signed with major customer Coal India Limited will assure both parties’ continued supply of tyres, which will be manufactured in an exclusive facility being created with funding provided by BEML and Coal India.

The tyres at this new facility will be produced by Apollo Tyres and JK Tyre. Coal India will provide BEML with Rs 2 billion (£24.3 million) in funds, which is to be equally invested in each tyre manufacturer for the project.

14th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

MRF Tops J.D. Power India Customer Satisfaction Survey

A study into India’s tyre market reveals that MRF leads the field in terms of OE tyre customer satisfaction. The J.D. Power and Associates 2008 India Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) Study, released April 22, shows that, from a field of five leading manufacturers, MRF ranks highest with an overall CSI score of 836 out of a possible 1,000.

The manufacturers’ products were evaluated by 3,381 new vehicle owners, following 12 to 18 months of ownership, in five key areas: appearance, durability, traction, ride quality and handling. The 2008 survey, the eighth conducted, was also the third consecutive occasion in which MRF has topped the customer satisfaction list. Close behind in second place was Apollo Tyres, who achieved an overall ranking of 816 points.

J.D. Power and Associates reports the study’s findings reveal a strong link between the ownership experience and intent to repurchase. Amongst customers reporting a high level of satisfaction with their tyres, nearly 80 per cent said they “definitely would” repurchase their original brand. The factors for which owners reported the highest levels of satisfaction were tyre appearance and ride quality at highway speeds.

Repurchase intent, however, drops by nearly 40 per cent among customers who are highly dissatisfied with their original tyre brand. For customers who say they “definitely would not” or “probably would not” repurchase their original brand, tyre noise is the most commonly cited reason for their decision.

“Consumers may not have much choice in which tyres come standard with their new vehicle, but they definitely have a choice when it comes time to replace those tyres,” said Mohit Arora, senior director at J.D. Power and Associates, Singapore. “Having a satisfying tyre ownership experience will certainly strengthen a customer’s decision to purchase the same brand that came on their vehicle. Hence, it is vital for manufacturers to increase product quality to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction in order to foster higher loyalty and advocacy levels.”

According to the results, almost 20 per cent of new vehicle owners report problems with their tyres, the most common of these being puncture damage, an issue reported by 65 per cent of these owners. It is thus unsurprising that the second most important consideration for owners when purchasing new tyres, behind brand name, is a tyre’s self-sealing qualities. “While puncture damage is typically beyond the control of manufacturers, and considering that self-sealing tyres have the second strongest impact on vehicle purchase, having this feature on their tyres may prove advantageous for manufacturers,” commented Arora.

The average score amongst the five manufacturers was 818. Individual scores are as follows: MRF 836, Apollo 816, JK Tyre 798, Bridgestone 795, Goodyear 783.

23rd April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Capacity Increases Ready by Mid-2009

Apollo Tyres makes no secret of its intention to become a market leader in India’s passenger car tyre segment, and during a press conference in Chennai the company’s head of India Operations, Satish Sharma, outlined the means by which Apollo plans to reach its goal.

Mr. Sharma stated that Apollo’s new Rs 5 billion (£61 million) greenfield facility in Oragadam, near Chennai, will be ready to enter production by June 2009 and have a daily production capacity of 30,000 passenger car tyres. The capacity expansion at Apollo’s Baroda plant, an upgrade costing the company Rs 1.5 billion (£18 million), is also scheduled for completion around that time. When complete, capacity at Baroda will increase by 5,000 units a day to 15,000 units.

11th March 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Foundation Stone Laid for New Apollo OTR Plant

Yet another new chapter in the history of Apollo Tyre’s impressive growth was written on February 25 at a foundation stone laying ceremony for the company’s new OTR tyre production facility. The construction of this new plant marks Apollo’s entry into the OTR tyre segment. Presiding over the auspicious occasion at Limda, in India’s Gujarat state, was company chairman and managing director Onkar S Kanwar.

The OTR facility will be ready for production within the next 15 months and will have an initial capacity of 10 tonnes per day, to be increased to 60 tonnes a day over a three-year period. Sizes produced at the Limda plant will start at 25-inch and diameters up to 57-inch are planned. The first phase of development will require an investment of about Rs 1 billion (£12.7 million), and this money will go towards establishing facilities primarily for the production of cross-ply OTR tyres. Additional investments will be made for radial production.

25th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Indian Tyre Manufacturers Seek Rubber Duty Reduction

A number of Indian tyre manufacturers have called for import duty on rubber to be reduced in the forthcoming national budget in order to rectify an anomaly that sees this raw material attracting a higher duty than tyres imported from overseas. According to a statement released by the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association, (ATMA) many of the country’s 43 domestic manufacturers are seeking a change from the current 20 per cent duty down to 7.5 per cent, as it is believed this reduced rate will deter the dumping of tyres from China and other countries.

12th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors