Apollo Tyres Ltd has announced the opening of its global R&D centre in Enschede, Netherlands. This facility will serve as a hub for the development and testing of car and van tyres for all product brands - Apollo, Vredestein and Dunlop - of the company. Apollo Tyres Global R&D BV will start operations with more than 100 R&D specialists from various parts of the world, including 20 car tyre specialists from India and South Africa, and will later be scaled-up to nearly 150 people.

“The Global R&D Centre is an important milestone in our journey to become a $6 billion (Rs 32,856 crore) tyre company by 2016. This world-class centre will play a key role in bringing cutting-edge technology and innovation in the development of car and van tyres of the future,” said Onkar S Kanwar, Chairman, Apollo Tyres Ltd, during the inauguration of the R&D centre.

Recently, Apollo Tyres restructured its Research and Development team, across its three key geographies, to create synergy and greater alignment to the company’s growth aspirations; and to generate speed and relevance while entering new markets. The new structure connects the entire organisation via two major R&D centres - for commercial purposes and car tyres. In line with this strategy, the company is bringing together its R&D resources comprising almost 250 people in Africa, Europe and India to create two global R&D hubs - Enschede, the Netherlands for Car and Van tyres and Chennai, India for Commercial Vehicle tyres.