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Apollo to Increase PCR Tyre Capacity by 50%

On December 13 Apollo Tyres stated it would invest more than one billion rupees to increase its PCR tyre capacity from 300,000 to 450,000 units per year. According to company COO and joint managing director Neeraj Kanwar, this expansion programme would be centred on Apollo’s Limda factory in the state of Gujarat, with some further small capacity increases also carried out in its other facilities in India and South Africa.

“We have earmarked Rs 108-crore (£13.4 million) investment for the next fiscal to increase our production capacity to 4.5 lakh (450,000) tyres per annum. This will suffice the expansion plan given that this will be an expansion of existing capacity as opposed to creating greenfield site,” Kanwar was quoted by India’s Sify news as saying. “We will embark on capacity expansion in the next fiscal and it will be completed by the end of the fiscal.” Kanwar added that the company would use internal accruals to fund the proposed expansion.

13th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

FEA Software Assisting in Apollo’s Growth

According to a press statement issued on December 5 by international 3D and Product Lifecycle Management solutions provider Dassault Systemes, Apollo Tyres is using the company’s Simulia brand Abaqus Unified Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software to evaluate and improve its product performance in order to assist in the tyremaker’s growth as a preferred partner for global automotive OEMs.

As Dassault Systemes points out, the development of a new tyre product requires the evaluation of a complex combination of rubber, steel, and other layered materials. For items such as large, off-road radial tyres, testing even a few physical prototypes is expensive and time-consuming. To circumvent this issue, Apollo Tyres is utilising Abaqus Unified FEA software in the initial stages of all new-product development to evaluate alternative concepts, guide design decisions, and refine product performance.

5th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Tyres to Spread AIDS Message in December

In addition to being a tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres operates a number of health clinics in India – at present seven are in operation and further establishments are planned. Through this healthcare connection Apollo plans to commemorate World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007, at all its manufacturing locations and clinics through a week-long series of activities.

27th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo also Considering Germany as Site for New European Factory

In mid-November the joint managing director and COO of Apollo Tyres, Neeraj Kanwar, reported that “we are looking at project feasibility in the Eastern Europe region in terms of cost of manufacturing and approach to market.” A local media report from northeast Germany, published a week later, indicates that Eastern Europe is not the only location under consideration.

News coming from the state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania reveals that the Indian tyremaker has engaged the services of high-profile German corporate consultancy Kienbaum to seek information from the regional authorities in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, requesting they send information on the province, information that will form the basis of a feasibility study about establishing a manufacturing facility there. It also appears likely that a delegation from Apollo Tyres will visit northern Germany some time in the “near future.”

27th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Charges Against Apollo Chairman May be Unsustainable

The mismanagement allegations made by Narinder Jeet Kanwar against his elder brother, Apollo Tyres chairman Onkar Singh Kanwar, might not be sustainable in Chennai’s Company Law Board (CLB) as the younger brother is not a company shareholder, report both Apollo Tyres and independent legal experts. A spokesperson from the company has stated “Narinder Jeet Kanwar has no stake in the company.” Therefore, it was added, he is not in a position to bring the issue before the CLB.

India’s Business Standard newspaper has quoted the position of a Chennai based company law expert, M R Venkatesh, regarding the matter. “The petitioner or petitioners as a group must hold at least a 10 per cent stake in the company for the CLB to accept the petition. It is not an easy process, unless this 10 per cent stake is held by a person,” said Venkatesh.

7th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Brothers In Apollo Tyres Conflict

In India, Narinder Jeet Kanwar has reportedly filed a petition with the Company Law Board against his elder brother, O. S. Kanwar, who is the head of Apollo Tyres. Press reports say that the petition is seeking investigation over alleged illegalities, manipulations, fraud and insider trading by O. S. Kanwar in order to acquire a controlling stake in the company. Narinder Jeet Kanwar is quoted as saying: “The affairs of the company are being conducted in a manner so as to deceive the shareholder.”

A statement issued by Apollo Tyres reads as follows: “In the context of the news reports that have appeared in the Indian media regarding Apollo Tyres, we wish to clarify that the Petition reference which is made in the report has not even been admitted by the Honorable Company Law Board’s Additional Principal Bench in Chenai and the very maintainability of the same has been challenged by the company. The matter being sub-judice, we would like to refrain from stating anything on the merits of the same.” In other words, no comment.

5th November 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Results Show Growing Profits & EU Presence

The board of directors at Apollo Tyres made public details of the company’s unaudited second quarter and half-year results on October 26, figures that indicate strong profits. Combined India and South Africa net sales for the quarter between 1 July and 30 September were recorded as Rs 10,848.97 million (£134 million), slightly lower than the same period a year earlier (Rs 10,903.43 million). However, profits trebled: The Rs 182.18 million (£2.25 million) profit gained in second quarter 2006 swelled to Rs 576.09 million (£7.11 million) this year. Half year profits for the six months ended September 30 showed a similar trend, growing from Rs 298.69 million (£3.69 million) to Rs 1,122.5 million (£13.86 million).

26th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Tyres Names New Board Member

Former chairman of the State Bank of India, Mr. Arun Purwar, has been named to the board of directors at Apollo Tyres. Company chairman and managing director Onkar S Kanwar, commenting on his appointment, said “It is an honour to have Arun on our board of directors. He brings with him a wealth of global financial and management expertise and his long list of achievements with India’s largest and most successful bank.”

Purwar served as chairman of the State Bank of India between 2002 and 2006, and spearheaded the bank’s retail expansion and modernisation, backed by robust IT systems.

26th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Tyres Launches Virtual Tennis Game

Apollo Tyres and zapak.com have partnered to produce an online tennis game on India’s largest gaming portal. As a part of the promotion Zapak Digital Entertainment has created a unique property called Apollo Tyres Tennis II. Said Mr Avik Chattopadhyay, Head, Corporate Marketing Group, Apollo Tyres Ltd: “We at Apollo are committed to promote tennis as a sport in India. Since online gaming has become a rage with Indian youth, we joined hands with zapak.com, to reach out to a larger audience. Tennis is one of the most popular games on zapak.com and we found here an opportunity to nurture this interest. Apollo Tyres is the first corporate to have a branded game on zapak.com.”

25th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Tyres Unveils Smart Retail Outlets

Apollo Tyres Ltd has launched its first branded retail store in Patiala, India. The company now plans to take these stores to all the metropolitan and class A cities in the country in the coming months.

The first store to sport the new look is National Tyres, Patiala, one of Apollo’s leading retailers in the state of Punjab. Speaking at the inauguration, Mr Satish Sharma, Chief, India Operations, Apollo Tyres Ltd, said: “There’s much happening in the Indian retail space and it’s the right time for us to give our customers the same best-in-class experience. We are creating outlets where women feel comfortable making a purchase. In an environment where the consumer can make an informed decision and is backed by quality service levels and knowledge. These stores look and feel different and will finally bring in the global tyre-buying experience into India.”

19th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo to Build Hospital Near Tyre Factory Site

Apollo Tyres has plans to build a specialty hospital close to the site of its soon to be relocated Premier Tyres manufacturing facility. The Rs 6 billion (£74.8 million) hospital project will be operational by the time relocation of the tyre plant in Kalamassery, Kerala is complete in April 2009, and is expected to substantially boost medical tourism in the region. The company also plans to build a traditional “Ayurveda” healthcare clinic and residential home for the elderly on six acres of land adjacent to the Kalamassery factory site. This proposal is currently being considered by India’s State Industries Department.

17th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo in OE Talks with Skoda & Hyundai

Apollo Tyres, whose chairman Onkar S Kanwar recently voiced the company’s ambition of doubling turnover to US$2 billion within the next three years, is reportedly in OE supply talks with both Skoda and Hyundai. Specific details of these negotiations have not as yet been made public. And while the Indian tyre major has not at this stage been selected as an OE supplier for the Tata 1 lakh (£1,250) car – JK Tyre and MRF Tyres will initially fulfill this role – it is not ruling out the possibility of coming on board at a later date.

“When Tata Motors was initially finalising the vendor base, we did speak with them,” Apollo Tyres’ chief, India Operations Satish Sharma commented to India’s Economic Times newspaper. “However we plan to follow a different model. We would initially supply tyres in the after-sales market for the Tata Rs 1 lakh car and once the volumes pick up, we might become their OE partners.”

17th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Indian Tyremakers Becoming More Reliant on SR

Indian tyre manufacturers increasingly must ‘fake it to make it’ – that is, rely upon synthetic rubber in the manufacture of their products. Natural rubber already accounts for about 50 per cent of production costs in India, and since May-June the per kilogram cost of this sought after commodity has increased from Rs 80 (£1.00) to Rs 90.75 (£1.13). Apollo Tyres’ Onkar S. Kanwar believes an increase of this degree has the potential to reduce profits by 3 to 5 per cent; to counter this his company is considering doubling its use of synthetic rubber.

The ratio of natural to synthetic rubber used by Indian tyremakers could therefore feasibly reach the magic figure of 70:30 – the highest ratio technically practicable. Such measures were threatened earlier in 2007, but so far no manufacturer has utilised synthetic rubber to this degree in its products. In Europe the established ratio is 80:20, a proportion seen as not compromising the superior vulcanising qualities of natural rubber.

15th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Turnover to Double in 3 Years – Kanwar

India’s tyre industry will most likely grow by 8 to 10 per cent over the next five years, claims Apollo Tyres’ chairman Onkar S Kanwar. He added that in the coming three years the tyremaker’s turnover will double to US$2 billion. “We are looking at inorganic growth and have acquired a facility in South Africa and are also in the process of starting a facility in Europe”, said Onkar. Specific details of Apollo’s current activities in Europe, however, were not provided.

12th October 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Grabs Tyrexpo Gold

ECI International has directed kudos in the direction of Apollo Tyres for its stand at the recent Tyrexpo Asia 2007, awarding the Indian tyre major its ‘Gold Award’ for ‘Most Innovative Stand Design.’

The company’s spectacular stand at the Singapore exhibition was constructed in a fresh looking glass and steel style and showcased the company’s product range spanning the three brands of Apollo, Dunlop and Regal. High-speed passenger radial and 4×4 range, commercial super singles, radials and cross-ply and pre-cured tread rubber panels were prominently displayed.

Those in Europe wishing to see Apollo Tyres displaying its wares first hand will have the opportunity to do so next year, as the company has confirmed its participation in the 2008 Reifen Essen show.

28th September 2007/by Tyrepress Editors