Apollo Tyres opens global research and development centre at Netherlands

Apollo Tyres today said it has opened a global research and development (R&D) centre in Enschede, the Netherlands which will serve as a hub for development and testing of car and van products by the company. Apollo Tyres Global R&D BV will start operations with more than 100 R&D specialists from various parts of the world, including 20 car tyre specialists from India and South Africa, and will later be scaled-up to nearly 150 people, the company said in a statement. "The global R&D centre is an important milestone in our journey to become a $6 billion tyre company by 2016. This world-class centre will play a key role in bringing cutting-edge technology and innovation in the development of car and van tyres of the future," said Apollo Tyres chairman Onkar S Kanwar. This state-of-the-art facility will serve as a hub for the development and testing of car and van tyres for all product brands - Apollo, Vredestein and Dunlop (32 countries in Africa) - of the company, the statement added. Recently, the company had restructured its research and development team and brought together its R&D resources comprising almost 250 people in Africa, Europe and India to create two global R&D hubs. The centre at Enschede will serve as hub for car and van tyres, while its facility in Chennai will be the global R&D centre for commercial vehicle tyres. "While we have merged our research and development resources, smaller teams across key markets will work on customising each global product to market requirements and testing under local conditions," Apollo Tyres vice vhairman and managing director Neeraj Kanwar said. According to Peter Snel, group head of Apollo Tyres PV R&D, "Apollo has taken a bold strategic decision to centralise its R&D activities for car tyres in Europe." "Given that Europe is one of the most advanced automotive markets in the world, the facility will help Apollo to further step up efforts to build tyres for the future. It will also strengthen our relationship with the global OEMs," he added.

Apollo Tyres opens global research and development centre at Netherlands

NDTV Profit

NDTV Profit

Follow Us

DISCOVER US FASTER

DOWNLOAD THE APP