Apollo Tyres makes Thailand its ASEAN hub

Apollo Tyres Ltd, opened its Sales Office in Bangkok to serve the entire ASEAN region, with Thailand as the hub of operations. This region would be catered to by exports out of India currently. After Dubai for the Middle East region, this is the second hub outside company’s operations in India, The Netherlands and South Africa.

The ASEAN region has gradually become one of Apollo’s strongest export markets, out of India, accounting for more than 40% of exports revenue. The contribution of this region to the total exports revenue of the company out of India has doubled in the last 3 years time. The company already has a sizable distribution network in the ASEAN market.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Bangkok office, Satish Sharma, Chief, Zone I, Apollo Tyres Ltd, said, “As a company we are currently in our 2nd phase of expansion. In the last few years, due to high customer satisfaction, the demand and acceptability of our tyres has increased manifold in the ASEAN region. We are looking at the Bangkok office to serve as a hub for an active sales and service team. This will allow us to meet customer expectations with greater ease and swiftness. Moreover, our entire range of tyres, tuned to this market, combined with our service proposition, will help us create a strong bond with our existing and new customers across the region.”

Apollo is well positioned to serve the 6 million units a year commercial vehicle replacement tyre market in the ASEAN region -- a segment where Apollo enjoys a clear product technology and service leadership position. The fastest growing segment is the 22.6 million units a year passenger vehicle tyres. Apollo Tyres sells its range of Passenger Vehicle, 4x4, Commercial and Off-highway tyres in the ASEAN region.

Apollo’s global operation are divided into 3 divisions (Zone I, E and A) across the world. Satish Sharma oversees Zone I, which includes India, Middle East, ASEAN and the Asia Pacific region. Zone I is Apollo Tyres’ largest revenue earner accounting for 67% of the company’s US$ 2.5 billion (FY12) turnover. Shubhro Ghosh, Head, ASEAN, Apollo Tyres Ltd would be responsible for the operations in this region.

Tyres for this region are produced out of Apollo’s 4 plants in India, including a state-of-the-art automated unit in the southern city of Chennai. Exports out of India are projected to grow at a double digit rate, in the next few years, due to strategic initiatives taken by the company.