Apollo Tyres Ltd. has opened a branded retread plant, Apollo Retread Zone (ARZ) in Mumbai, India. It is the third ARZ outlet in the company's retread network.
Apollo opened its first ARZ outlets in 2014 in the cities of Jaipur and Chennai in India. The company says the growth of radial tires for commercial use has created a demand for retread products.
“As a dominant player in the commercial vehicle segment, especially in India, we are committed to providing a 360 degree solution to our customers, which very much includes retreading as well, to enhance the tire life of the end-user,” says Satish Sharma, president of Apollo’s Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region.
“The increase in usage of radial tires in the truck-bus segment has increased the potential for retreading, and thereby the need for more such quality retreading outlets to service our customers.”
In addition to providing infrastructural support for these retreading outlets, Apollo also trains the employees at its Retread Research and Training Centre in Chennai.
Citing a demand for quality retread, which is not widely available in the country, Apollo says it aims to have 20 branded retread outlets by the end of this fiscal year for a pan-India presence.
Apollo says the retreading industry in India is gradually getting more and more organized. The customers are opting for multiple retreads on their tires, and prefer the same to be done by the tire manufacturers, instead of unorganized players.
The company’s branded outlets are equipped with most advanced retreading machines, high quality tread material and trained workers, according to Apollo.
