Apollo Tyres Ltd is the world's seventh largest tyre manufacturer, with annual consolidated revenues of ₹172.76 billion in March 2018. It was incorporated in 1972. Its first plant was commissioned in Perambra, Thrissur, Kerala, India. The company now has four manufacturing units in India, one in Netherlands and one in Hungary. It has a network of nearly 5,000 dealerships in India, of which over 2,500 are exclusive outlets. It gets 69% of its revenues from India, 26% from Europe and 5% from other geographies. Apollo announced its entry into the two-wheeler tyre segment with contract manufacturing in March 2016. In November 2016, the company signed a MoU with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to set up a new factory in Andhra Pradesh to manufacture tyres for two-wheelers and pick-up trucks. The company's second plant in Europe, was inaugurated by the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, in April 2017. Apollo Tyres opens its first service centre in Malaysia.
History
Apollo Tyres Ltd. was incorporated on 28 September 1972 as a Public Limited Company and obtained certificate of Commencement of Business on 24 October, 1972. The company was promoted by Bharat Steel Tubes, Ltd., Raunaq International Pvt. Ltd., Raunaq & Co. Pvt. Ltd., Raunaq Singh, Mathew T. Marattukalam and Jacob Thomas. In 1975, the company made its of equity shares and its first manufacturing facility was commissioned in Perambra Plant, Thrissur, Kerala, India in 1977, followed by its 2nd plant at Limda, Gujarat, India in 1991. The company acquired Premier Tyres Limited- PTL in 1995, which became its 3rd plant at Kalamassery, Kerala, India. In 2008, it started a new plant at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. A year later in 2009, the company acquired the Netherlands-based tyre maker Vredestein Banden B.V. for an undisclosed sum The company focused on the production of truck tyres in India and introduced its first truck tyre, Rajdhani in India. The company expanded its operation across India and in 1996, it expanded operations outside India by acquiring Dunlop's Africa operations. In 2013, it disposed of the Dunlop brand in Africa along with most of the South African operation in a sale to Sumitomo Rubber Industries of Japan. The very same year, it started its Global R&D Centre, Europe in Enschede, the Netharlands. In 2015, Apollo Tyres bought Germany's Reifencom for €45.6 million. It shifted its corporate office for Europe region to Amsterdam from Enschede, the Netherlands and opened a Global R&D Centre, Asia in Chennai, India a few months later. In 2016, the company signed an MoU with the government of Andhra Pradesh to set up a new factory in the state. In 2017, it inaugurated its plant in Hungary. On 9 January 2018, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for Apollo Tyres' ₹1,800-crore tyre factory in Andhra Pradesh. The plant will come up over a 200-acre site in Chinnapanduru village near Sri City in Chittoor district and produce passenger car radial tyres with an initial capacity of 5.5 million tyres per year and will serve both domestic and export markets.
Corporate Structure and Leadership
Apollo Tyres is structured in the following units:
Apollo Tyres currently sells Apollo and Vredestein branded tyres in Europe. The company currently operates two tyre factories in Europe; in the Netherlands and in Hungary. This second production facility in Europe was inaugurated for production on 7 April 2017.
