Apollo's Chennai plant produces millionth truck-bus radial tyre

Apollo Tyres recently manufactured its 1,000,000th truck-bus radial (TBR) tyre from its Chennai plant. The TBR unit went on stream with an initial production of 250 tyres a day in April 2010 and has a current capacity of 4,000 a day. The TBRs account for 19 percent of the total commercial vehicle tyres produced by Apollo, which mirrors the overall radialisation of 20 percent in the category in India. The plant had reached the 3,000,000 passenger car tyre mark a while ago and currently manufactures 7,500 passenger car tyres in a day.

On the occasion, Satish Sharma, Chief, India Operations, Apollo Tyres, said: “The fact that we have been able to put in capacities quickly to adequately address the needs of the growing Indian vehicle manufacturers, is a point of pride. From here, we are aiming to speed up the process and hit our next million in the next 10 months. What has been heartening has been the high acceptance of Apollo’s truck-bus radials with the mature OEM and replacement customers, combined with the extensive service back-up that we have put in place.”

The TBRs manufactured at the Chennai plant are supplied to CV manufacturers like Ashok Leyland, Eicher and Tata Motors. The company’s passenger car tyres are supplied to OEMs like Hyundai Motor India and Mahindra & Mahindra.