Apollo Tyres restructures its R&D division

Chennai -  Tyre major Apollo Tyres Ltd Thursday announced restructuring of its 250-member research and development (R&D) wing, which now would be located at two major centres - India and Netherlands - while having smaller teams to customise products for local conditions across key markets.

In a statement, the company said the R&D teams across its three key geographies -- Africa, Europe and India -- have been rejigged to create synergy and greater alignment with its growth aspirations.

The restructuring is part of the management's decision to increase Apollo's focus on core research and to increase the R&D spend substantially over the next couple of years.

"We have merged our research and development resources of nearly 250 individuals from Africa, Europe and India, under the leadership of two of our finest experts.

While commercial and personal vehicle tyre development and testing will be located in India and The Netherlands respectively, smaller teams across key markets will work on customising each global product to market requirements and testing under local conditions. This structure allows for a sharper focus on basic research, increased usage of alternative raw materials and market led product

performance," the statement quoted vice chairman and managing director Neeraj as saying.

The R&D team for commercial vehicle tyres will be headquartered at the company's plant near here under P.K. Mohamed, chief advisor while Peter Snel, group head, will spearhead the passenger vehicle tyre R&D unit in Netherlands.

According to Apollo, the decision on location of the two centres was taken on the basis of current and potential commercial and passenger vehicle markets. Middle East and Asia constitute nearly 59 percent of the global commercial tyre market, while Europe and North America comprise 51 percent of the world's passenger tyre sales.