Apollo's Chennai unit produces millionth TBR tyre

This week Apollo Tyres’ iconic tyre manufacturing facility in Chennai produced its millionth truck-bus radial (TBR) tyre. The TBR unit went on-stream with an initial production of 250 tyres a day in April 2010, and has been gradually ramped up to now reach 4,000 a day. Truck-bus radials account for 19pc of the total commercial vehicle tyre produced by Apollo, which mirrors the overall radialisation of 20pc in the category in India. On the occasion, Satish Sharma, Chief, India Operations, Apollo Tyres said, “The fact that we have been able to put in capacities quickly to adequately address the needs of the growing Indian vehicle manufacturers, is a point of pride. From here, we are aiming to speed up the process and hit our next million in the next 10 months. What has been heartening has been the high acceptance of Apollo’s truck-bus radials with the mature OEM and replacement customers, combined with the extensive service back-up that we have put in place.” From the Chennai plant, Apollo Tyres is an OEM supplier to some of the most established commercial vehicle manufacturers like Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland and Eicher. The Chennai unit, which has been operational for around 2 years, has already produced 3 million passenger car tyres. It currently produces 7,500 passenger vehicle tyres per day, which include supplies to OEMs like Hyundai and Mahindra & Mahindra for their range of sedans, hatchbacks and SUVs. Besides the customer acknowledgement of Apollo’s superior technology, the Chennai unit’s fast capacity ramp-up has enabled Apollo to quickly become the largest producer and rapidly increase its market share in India. Apollo’s 9th manufacturing unit globally and the 4th in India, was commissioned in March 2010. A high level of automation, flat organisation structure and innovative plant layout, combined with a well-trained young, focussed and motivated team, has enabled the swift ramp-up of capacity in Chennai.