Prime Minister of Hungary
Viktor Orban formally inaugurated Apollo Tyres’ 6th global tyre manufacturing
unit and the second one in Europe. Present, on the occasion were Peter
Szijjarto, Hungarian Foreign Affairs & Trade Minister, Rahul Chhabra, Ambassador
of India to Hungary, Onkar S Kanwar, Chairman, Neeraj Kanwar, Vice Chairman and
Managing Director, Apollo Tyres. The company’s Board of Directors and its
senior management team was also present on the occasion.
Located less than 100 km from
the capital Budapest, this is Apollo Tyres’ first greenfield facility outside
India. A highly automated plant with use of IT-driven systems and robotics, it
employs young and skilled associates on the shopfloor, mostly hired locally.
Built over 72 hectares,
construction began on site in April 2015. The company is investing Euro 475
million in this facility. The final capacity at the end of Phase I would be 5.5
million passenger car & light truck (PCLT) tyres and 675,000 commercial
vehicle tyres. This facility will complement Apollo Tyres’ existing facility in
the Netherlands, and will produce both Apollo and Vredestein brand of tyres for
the European market.
The inauguration also marks 40
years for the company being in the business of manufacturing and selling of
tyres. India’s leading tyre manufacturer started its journey in the mid 70s
from a single plant in the rubber producing state of Kerala in India. Started
with making only truck tyres, became the market leader in the segment, and then
entered other product segments. The company ventured into passenger vehicle
tyres relatively recently (in 2000s), but quickly became the largest producer
of these tyres in India; similarly, it entered the truck-bus radial segment
around 2006, and already has the largest capacity in this segment in India.
Onkar S Kanwar said, “With
this inauguration today, of our Hungary greenfield facility, we have crossed
another milestone in our global growth journey. This facility will help us
further increase our presence and market share in Europe. From being a
replacement market focussed company in Europe, we would soon be starting
supplies of our tyres to all the leading OEs in Europe.”