Apollo Tyres

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Apollo Tyres Limited

Type

Public

Industry

Tyres

Founded

1972[1]

Headquarters

Gurgaon, Haryana, India[2]

Key people

Onkar S Kanwar (Chairman & MD) Neeraj R S Kanwar (Vice-Chairman & MD)

Revenue

12750 crore(US$2.0 billion)[3]

Website

http://www.apollotyres.com

Apollo Tyres Ltd is the world's 17th biggest tyre manufacturer, with annual consolidated revenues of Rs 121.5 billion (US$ 2.5 billion) in 2011. It was founded in 1976. Its first plant was commissioned in Perambra, Kerala. The company now has four manufacturing units, one in South Africa, two inZimbabwe and 1 in Netherlands.[14] It has a network of over 4,000 dealerships in India, of which over 2,500 are exclusive outlets. It gets 59% of its revenues from India, 28% from Europe and 13% from Africa.[4] Apollo tyres was awarded the FICCI award among large industries category for the best Quality systems. It is planning to become the 10th biggest tyre manufacturer in the world with annual revenues of $6 billion by 2016.[5]

On 12 June 2013, it is reported that Apollo Tyres Ltd would buy US-based Cooper Tire & Rubber Company for about $2.5 billion in a deal that would make it the world's seventh-largest tyre maker. Apollo's cash offer of $35 per share represents a premium of about 43 percent to Cooper's share price on the New York Stock Exchange. Apollo Tyres, which does not currently operate in the United States, gets two-thirds of its revenue from India. The acquisition of Cooper, the world's 11th biggest tyre company by sales, will give Apollo access to the US market for replacement tyres for cars and light and medium trucks. The two companies had combined sales of $6.6 billion in 2012.
Contents
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1 History 2 European Operations 3 References 4 External links

History[edit]
1976 Apollo Tyres was registered[6] 1977 1st plant established at Perambra, Kerala, India[7] 1991 2nd plant at Limda, Gujarat, India[8] 1994 Started selling tyres for 2-wheelers[9] 1995 3rd plant at Kalamassery, Kerala, India[10] 2006 Expanded operations outside India by acquiring Dunlop's Africa operations.[11] 2008 new plant at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India[12] In 2009, Apollo Tyres acquired the Netherlands-based tyre maker Vredestein Banden B.V. (VBBV) for an undisclosed sum from Russia's bankrupt largest tyre manufacturer Amtel-Vredestein NV.[13] 2013 Disposed of the Dunlop brand in Africa along with most of the South African operation in a sale to Sumitomo Rubber Industries of Japan. 2013, Apollo is set to acquire the US based Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. which is expected to be completed at the end of the year. [14]

Making Of a Tyre

The Making of a Tyre is a process centered around indepth research and design capabilities, cutting edge manufacturing, utilising highly advanced machinery in large state-of-the-art plants at Apollo. As many as 200 raw materials are combined by a unique mix of chemistry, physics and engineering to give consumers the highest degree of comfort, performance, efficiency, reliability and safety by leveraging modern technology. The process can broadly be broken into the following stages. Planning And Design Tyres are custom-designed to meet the mechanics and performance needs of a particular usage and vehicle type. The process begins with a computer, which converts the mathematics of the vehicles special needs into measurable specifications. A prototype tyre is then made to test the design's ability to function as per the desired characteristics. Developing a market ready, successful tyre can takes many months of testing, inspection, and quality checks by the dedicated experts that make the Apollo team.

Radial tyre manufacturing starts with different kinds of raw materials pigments, chemicals, different kinds of rubber, cord fabrics, bead wire, and so on.

The process begins with the mixing of basic rubbers with process oils, carbon black, pigments, antioxidants, accelerators and other additives, each of which contributes certain properties to the compound. These ingredients are mixed in giant blenders called Banbury machines operating under high heat and pressure. They blend the many ingredients together into homogenised batch of black material with the consistency of gum. The mixing process is computer-controlled to assure uniformity. The compounded materials are then sent to the next stage of processing for further processing into sidewalls, treads or other parts of the tyre.

Then the task of assembling the tyre begins. The first component to go on the tyre building machine is the inner liner, a special rubber that is resistant to air and moisture penetration and takes the place of an inner tube. Next comes the body plies and belts, which are often made from polyester and steel. Plies and belts give the tyre strength while also providing flexibility. The belts are cut to the precise angle and size specified by the tyre engineer to provide the desired ride and handling characteristics. Bronze-coated strands of steel wire, fashioned into two hoops, are implanted into the sidewall of the tyres to form the bead, which assures an airtight fit with the rim of the wheel. The strands are aligned into a ribbon coated with rubber for adhesion, then wound into loops that are then wrapped together to secure them until they are assembled with the rest of the tyre.

Radial tyres are built on one or two tyre machines. The tyre starts with a double layer of synthetic gum rubber called an inner liner that will seal in air and make the tyre tubeless. Next come two layers of ply fabric, the cords. Two strips called apexes stiffen the area just above the bead. Next, a pair of chafer strips is added, so called because they resist chafing from the wheel rim when mounted on a car. The tyre building machine pre-shapes radial tyres into a form very close to their final dimension to make sure the many components are in proper position before the tyre goes into the mould.

Now the tyre builder adds the steel belts that resist punctures and hold the tread firmly against the road. The tread is the last part to go on the tyre and is pressed firmly together by automatic rollers. The end result is called a "green" or uncured tyre, ready for inspection and curing.

The curing press is where tyres get their final shape and tread pattern. Hot moulds like giant waffle irons shape and vulcanise the tyre. The moulds are engraved with the tread pattern, the sidewall markings of the manufacturer and those required by law.

Tyres are cured at over 300 degrees for 12 to 25 minutes, depending on their size. As the press swings open, the tyres are ejected from their moulds onto a long conveyor belt that carries them to final finish and inspection bay. If anything is wrong with the tyre at this stage it is rejected. Some flaws are caught by an inspector's trained eyes and hands; others are found by specialised machines Inspection doesn't stop at the surface. Some tyres are pulled from the production line and x-rayed to ensure tyre integrity. In addition, quality control engineers regularly cut apart tyres by random selection and study every detail of their construction that affects performance, ride or safety.

This is how all of the parts come together: the tread and sidewall, supported by the body, and held to the wheel by the rubber-coated steel bead. The basics for all tyres are fundamentally the same: steel, fabric, rubber, and lots of work and care, design and engineering.

Overview
While it's common to overlook those four circles of rubber that your car rests on, performing a few simple checks can yield better fuel economy and improved vehicle handling. Ensuring proper tyre care is important for many reasons other than reducing the potential of a flat tyre or a blowout. In order to achieve optimum handling from your vehicle, from everyday driving to making emergency maneuvers, tyre pressure needs to be at the proper inflation level. Even a tyre that doesn't appear to be low on air can result in reduced vehicle handling and excessive tread wear. Although there is no alternative to using an air pressure gauge to check the inflation levels, here are some indicators that can help quickly predict the health of your tyres. When driving down a straight, level road, check to see if the car pulls to one side or the other. While this "pulling" may be caused by improper alignment, it may also indicate a tyre issue especially if you are certain that the alignment is correct or if the vehicle recently had an alignment service. If the centre section of the tread is smooth, your tyres may be over-inflated. Likewise, if the outside sections or edges of the tyre tread are worn or rounded, your tyres may be under-inflated over a period of time and need attention. Pay attention for any squealing sounds when turning a corner at normal speeds. While this could be symptoms of other problems, they are frequently signs of improperly inflated tyres.

Apollo Tyres to invest USD 1 billion on global expansion in 5 yrs

New Delhi: Apollo Tyres will be investing USD one billion (about Rs 5,545 crore) in the next five years to expand its global footprint, which will include setting up two new plants in South East Asia and Eastern Europe.

The company will also be converting its Kalamassery plant in Kerala into a dedicated unit for production of off-highway tyres (OHTs) with about 85 per cent of the output aimed to cater to export markets, including the US, Europe, Australia and Latin America.

Moreover, the company will also be hiking the production capacity of its factory in the Netherlands to 7.5 million units a year from the current 6 million units per annum. "Over the next five years, we will be setting up two new greenfield plants, one either in Thailand or Indonesia and another in Eastern Europe in a phased manner," Apollo Tyres Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Neeraj Kanwar told.

On the overall investments for the next five years, he said: "All these projects put together, including our Kerala and the Netherlands units, we are looking at an investment of USD one billion." Asked about the funding of the investments, he said it would be partly through the USD 150 million that the company planned to raise via placement to QIBs and internal accruals. The tyre major will be focusing on setting up the plant in South East (SE) Asia and only after completion of the first phase of the project, the East European plant will follow. "The first phase of the SE Asia will entail an investment of about USD 250-300 million. The initial capacity of the plant will be 16,000 units of passenger car radials (PCRs) per day and 1,500 units of truck and bus radials a day (TBRs)," Kanwar said.

The second phase will entail an investment of around USD 200 million and the proposed plant would have a full capacity of 24,000 units of PCRs per day and 3,000 units of TBRs a day. "But, before we take up the second phase of the SE Asia project, we will start the greenfield plant in Eastern Europe. As of now, we have put our earlier plans to set up a plant in either Poland or Hungary on the backburner," he said.

Kanwar said the company is yet to finalise whether the SE Asia plant will come up in Thailand or Indonesia as it is still under negotiations with both the governments. "The plant in SE Asia will mainly cater to the entire ASEAN countries and China, while 20 per cent of the production will be exported to Europe and Latin America," he added. The proposed new plant in Eastern Europe will be for production of PCRs with an envisaged

capacity of 7 million units per annum entailing a total investment of around USD 350 million. For the Kalamassery plant, which currently produces agricultural and industrial tyres, truck and bus tyres, Kanwar said Apollo Tyres will be investing about Rs 200 crore. "We have taken a decision to convert this plant into a hub for production of OHTs. Only 1015 per cent of the production from here will cater to the Indian market and about 85 per cent will be exported."

The company is looking at markets like the US, Europe, Australia and Latin America for the OHTs, he added.

On the expansion of the factory of its Netherlands arm Vredestein Banden, Kanwar said: "This is currently at a project discussion stage, but it will take about 15 months once we start it. What we are looking at is to increase the production capacity to 7.5 million per annum from the current 6 million

Apollo Tyres to set up new R&D unit in Netherlands

New Delhi: Apollo Tyres restructures its research and development team, across its 3 key geographies, to create synergy and greater alignment to the company's growth aspirations and to generate speed and relevance while entering new markets.

This comes soon after a clear decision at the management level to increase Apollo's focus on core research and a substantial increase in R&D spends over the next few years. The new structure links the entire organisation along 2 critical product lines of commercial and personal vehicle tyres, with respective leaders reporting into the vice chairman. "We have merged our research and development resources of nearly 250 individuals from Africa, Europe and India, under the leadership of 2 of our experts.

While commercial and personal vehicle tyre development and testing will be located in India and The Netherlands respectively, smaller teams across key markets will work on

customising each global product to market requirements and testing under local conditions. This structure allows for a sharper focus on basic research, increased usage of alternative raw materials and market-led product performance," said Neeraj Kanwar, VC and MD, Apollo Tyres. PK Mohamed, chief advisor, of Apollo Tyres will lead the commercial vehicle (CV) tyre division, which will be housed on the same campus as the Chennai manufacturing facility; while Peter Snel , group head of Apollo Tyres will spearhead the passenger vehicle (PV) tyre unit, from a new facility being set up in Enschede, Netherlands.

(Agencies)