 "Apollo Tyres introduces Vredestein in Indian market")
Satish Sharma, chief of India operations, Apollo Tyres, said, “The new range will target high-end cars in the country. We are targeting monthly sales of around 5,000 tyres to start with in the replacement segment.” Vredestein, known for high-end tyres for luxury sedans, coupes, and SUVs, would compete with Pirelli and Michelin in the Indian market.
Apollo, which is currently locked in a legal battle over the takeover of US-based Cooper Tire, has invested to increase production capacity to seven million units per annum from the previous 5.5 million units. Apollo Tyres had acquired Vredestein Banden BV (now Apollo Vredestein BV) from Russian company, Amtel, which was declared bankrupt in May 2009.
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Vredestein branded tyres would be sourced from the production facility from Holland initially. Apollo Tyres, however, has not ruled out manufacturing the products in India at a later date on gaining scale.
Apollo would distribute Vredestein tyres through multi-brand showrooms. The company said the Vredestein range would complement the existing product portfolio ApolloTyres has in the passenger vehicle tyres space.
“As per our multi-brand strategy, Vredestein brand will cater to the high-end cars and SUVs in the replacement segment, while Apollo brand will cater to the automakers and replacement market in the mid and lower segment of the market,” said Marco A Paracciani, chief marketing officer (global), Apollo Tyres UK. The tyres being introduced currently, under the Vredestein brand, are Ultrac Sessanta, Ultrac SUV Sessanta, Ultrac, Cento and Sportrac 5.