Chennai: Apollo Tyres Global R&D Centre Inaugurated

The facility will cater to the product development needs of the Asia Pacific, Middle East & African regions

Apollo Tyres has officially inaugurated a global research and development centre in Chennai. This is the company’s 2nd such facility, after the European Global R&D Centre located in the Netherlands, which has been operational since 2013. Each centre caters to region-specific needs.

The unit in Europe is manned by a team of more than 150 employees and its services are provided to European and American regions. The R&D centre in India has an employee strength of over 140 people and it services the product development needs of the Asia Pacific, Middle East & African regions.

Besides the two global R&D centres, Apollo Tyres has also set up two satellite R&D centres in Bengaluru and Germany. The advanced engineering centre in Bengaluru is working towards integrating electronics into tyre technology, while the one in Raunheim (Frankfurt), Germany, works towards establishing ties with leading German original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for both the Apollo and Vredestein (car tyre) brands.

In conversation with reporters at the inauguration of the new facility, the brand also revealed plans to set up a new manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh, which is expected to be built with an investment of around Rs 500 crore. The new plant would be utilized to produce two-wheeler and pickup tyres, though an exact timeline for its operations will be clear at a later stage. The brand already has a production plant located in Oragadam, Chennai, which employs around 1,600 people.