Tire brand
Apollo Tyres
Apollo Tyres is an Indian tire manufacturer founded in 1972 and headquartered in Gurugram, near New Delhi.
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Brand profile
Apollo Tyres is an Indian tire manufacturer founded in 1972 and headquartered in Gurugram, near New Delhi. Having grown into a multinational following its 2009 acquisition of the Dutch company Vredestein, it produces tires for cars, SUVs, light trucks, heavy trucks, buses and farm machinery. The group markets the Apollo, Vredestein and Dunlop brands (the latter in certain markets) and exports to more than one hundred countries.
Positioning: Passenger, SUV, heavy-truck and agricultural tires for the Indian and European markets.
History
Apollo Tyres Limited was incorporated on September 28, 1972 in India, driven by the industrialist Raunaq Singh and associated partners, including Mathew T. Marattukalam and Jacob Thomas. The first plant came on line in 1977 in Perambra, near Thrissur, in the state of Kerala. A second site opened in Limda, Gujarat, in 1991, and the company then acquired Premier Tyres in 1995, adding a plant in Kochi (Kerala). A site in Chennai (Tamil Nadu) started up in 2008. The international turning point came in 2009 with the purchase of the Dutch company Vredestein Banden, a long-established manufacturer founded in 1909, which brought the group a premium European brand, a plant in Enschede and recognized expertise in winter and all-season tires. Apollo also holds the rights to the Dunlop brand for some thirty countries across Europe and Africa. In 2017, the group inaugurated its first purpose-built European plant in Gyöngyöshalász, Hungary, dedicated to passenger and heavy-truck tires. Starting in 2021, Apollo entered North America: the passenger line was launched there under the premium Vredestein banner, while the truck and bus line was introduced under the Apollo brand, with regional distribution centers serving retailers in the United States and Canada. In 2025, the company announced the gradual closure of the Dutch plant in Enschede, with its production shifted to the expanded Hungarian facility and to India. Today, Apollo operates five plants in India and one plant in Europe, employs several tens of thousands of people, and ranks among the twenty largest tire manufacturers in the world. Led by the Kanwar family (Onkar Kanwar, then Neeraj Kanwar), the group is pursuing a strategy of moving upmarket and expanding outside India.
Technologies
Apollo develops its tires in two complementary research centers: Chennai, in India, and Enschede, in the Netherlands, the latter serving as the hub for the passenger tires of the Apollo, Vredestein and Dunlop brands. The premium lines rely on rubber compounds with a high silica content to reduce rolling resistance and improve grip on wet surfaces, optimized casing structures and directional tread patterns. On the all-season and winter models, Apollo uses three-dimensional self-locking sipes that maintain block rigidity while multiplying the biting edges on snow, allowing 3PMSF certification. The group is also working on compounds suited to electric vehicles, capable of handling the instant torque and the additional mass of the batteries.
Innovations
The Vredestein brand has placed Apollo at the forefront of high-end all-season tires, a segment in which the Quatrac has established itself as a European benchmark. The group claims passenger-tire prototypes made of roughly 75% sustainable materials and takes part in research programs on alternative rubber sources, such as Russian dandelion and guayule, through European consortiums. Apollo also invests in natural rubber traceability and is a member of industry platforms aimed at a more responsible supply chain. On the visibility front, the company is a global partner of Manchester United, sponsors the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup to promote its winter tires, and fields a team in the FIA European Truck Racing Championship, a demanding testing ground for its heavy-truck tires.
Manufacturing
Apollo Tyres' head office is located in Gurugram, in the New Delhi region. The group operates five plants in India, located notably in Kerala (Perambra, Kochi), Gujarat (Limda), Tamil Nadu (Chennai) and Andhra Pradesh, as well as a European plant in Gyöngyöshalász, Hungary, inaugurated in 2017. Vredestein's historic plant in Enschede, in the Netherlands, is in the process of closing, with its production being transferred to Hungary and India. Apollo does not have a plant in Canada: the Quebec market is served through importing and distribution. In North America, passenger tires are sold under the Vredestein banner and heavy-truck tires under the Apollo brand, through a network of regional centers.
Reputation
Apollo enjoys a solid reputation in its home Indian and European markets, mainly thanks to its premium Vredestein brand, which is regularly well rated in European comparative tests of all-season and winter tires. The Apollo brand, for its part, remains more associated with appealing value for money. In Quebec, Apollo's presence is still recent and limited compared with the large established manufacturers: the passenger and SUV models relevant for winter are mainly those carrying the 3PMSF marking, which is required to drive during the mandatory period from December 1 to March 15. For Quebec buyers, checking local availability and the winter marking remains essential before purchase.
Models and families
Related Apollo Tyres models
These families are presented for reference. Actual availability depends on the catalogue and sizes.