Apollo Tyres today formally inaugurated its global R&D Centre, Asia just outside Chennai. This is the company’s second global R&D centre after the one in the Netherlands, Europe, which is operational since 2013.

The facility was inaugurated by Apollo Tyres’ chairman, Onkar S Kanwar and vice-chairman and managing director, Neeraj Kanwar in the presence of the company’s supervisory board of directors and management.

The two global R&D centres, in addition to  core research, will service the product development needs of the respective regions. While the European centre with a 150-strong team services the Europe and America regions, the Chennai centre with 140-odd staffers will service the entire Asia-Pacific, Middle East and African regions.

Commenting on the occasion, Onkar Kanwar said, “The global R&D centre, Asia will break new frontiers and accelerate our R&D vision for India and the region. This step also aligns with prime minister Narendra Modi’s vision for Brand India and technology being one of the core sectors for India becoming a global power.”

Other than the two R&D centres, Apollo Tyres has also set up two satellite R&D centres in Bangalore and Frankfurt, Germany. While the Advanced Engineering Centre in Bangalore is working towards integrating electronics into tyre technology, the one in Germany is working towards establishing ties with leading German OE customers for both the Apollo and Vredestein brands.

“Apollo Tyres has been furthering the dimension of research and development to usher in contemporary technology to service its customers in its chosen markets,” said Neeraj Kanwar.

A few years ago, the company had restructured its R&D team, across key geographies, to create synergies and greater alignment to the company’s growth outlook.

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