Apollo Tyres has now entered the truck-bus tyre segment in US and Canada and developed tyre range that meets the demand of the North American commercial fleets. This follows the launch of its passenger vehicle range in the US and Canada, as part of the North American expansion plans.
The company clarified that while the PV range was launched under the uropean brand, Vredestein, the commercial vehicle range has been introduced under the Apollo brand.
Apollo’s North American range of truck-bus tyres will be produced in its manufacturing units in Hungary and Chennai. The Apollo truck tyre line-up will encompass a full range of regional, super-regional, coach/urban and mixed-use applications with fitments for rims ranging from 17.5 inches to 24.5 inches. The company has targeted 13 SKUs this year and will expand to 23 SKUs by the second half of 2022, and a total of 45 SKUs covering 90 percent of the marketplace by 2024.
Abhishek Bisht, Assistant Vice President, Americas, Apollo Tyres said, “Our market entry in North America is preceded by decades of global commercial vehicle tyre manufacturing and distribution expertise. We come to market positioned to make an immediate impact by offering a tier-I value proposition at a more attractive price, while setting new industry standards for service and support.”
Before the launch, the tyres were put into test fleet service with a US waste-removal/ haulage operation to benchmark against Tier-I competition across multiple re-tread cycles. Bisht added that, “our R&D efforts made it clear that a successful North American dealer strategy had to be based on transparency. Our commercial dealers are trusted customers and partners and we will not compete with them by selling directly to fleets.”
Apollo dealers in North America will have contractually guaranteed exclusive sales territories.