August 9, 2012: Speaking at Apollo Tyres’ 39th AGM in Kochi, chairman Onkar S Kanwar revealed the strategic directions the company plans to take in the future. The tyremaker’s revenues have grown by 37 percent over the previous year, with profits continuing to remain depressed due to higher input costs. Over the year, Apollo has made substantial investments and product expansions in its manufacturing bases in India, Netherlands and South Africa, along with restructuring in R&D.
According to Kanwar, there are four strategic directions Apollo will pursue globally: increase its presence in home markets, expand into new market, focus on green technologies and aim for overall growth.
Employing a combination of the right products and focusing on specific and profitable segments of the tyre market, the company plans to further consolidate its position in India, South Africa and the European Union. In India, this would include the entry of the Vredestein brand in the ultra-high performance tyre and car segment. In South Africa, it will target higher penetration of mining and specialty tyres while in Europe, the focus for the next two years will continue to be on strengthening the passenger car tyre brands of both Apollo and Vredestein. At present, in Europe, demand outstrips its capability to meet with supplies and the company is looking at ways to fulfill burgeoning demand for passenger car tyres.
Also, in a bid to improve synergies, the Commercial Vehicle Research Centre is being recreated in Chennai while the entire passenger tyre R&D Centre has been relocated to Netherlands. This re-organisation will help address evolving customer requirements more effectively and as hubs, they will work with country level research centres to further customise product ranges to address local needs actively.
On the export front, Apollo, which sells its products in 118 countries, has identified the Middle East, South East Asia, Australia and Brazil as potential future home markets, some with manufacturing bases.
There’s also a new focus on the environment, green technologies and society which will be driven across multiple functions. Work is also underway in developing alternative sources of rubber, in low noise and fuel efficient tyres, in water conservation and the use of renewable sources of energy.
Furthermore, Apollo is driving new gains in community development, education and skill building of young people. It has also started setting up driver training schools for commercial vehicles to create a strong pool of safety and health-conscious drivers.
Concluding his speech, Kanwar said: “Our core duty is to aggressively pursue business growth, tempered with a keen eye on society’s well-being. This is the only way we have to meet the requirements of our people and our customers, making appropriate investments in people, processes and plants for future business needs; alongside timely investments in the education and training of communities around us – empowering them to continue the growth cycle we trigger in our communities.”