Apollo Tyres Ltd on Thursday launched its premium European brand Vredestein in India, to cater to high-end cars and sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in the replacement market.

The company, which acquired Vredestein in 2009, said the tyres will be imported from Apollo Vredestein BV’s plant in Enschede, the Netherlands, which has an annual production capacity of around seven million tyres.

The company already manufactures some of the Vredestein tyres (for passenger cars) at its Chennai plant, but those are sold in the European markets only.

The company aims to sell 2,500-3,000 tyres a month initially, and take it to around 5,000 tyres later.

To start with, it will sell the tyres in 23 cities (tier-I and II), including Delhi, Chandigarh, Chennai, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. “We have done a market research before launching this brand and a lot of people, especially youngsters, know about Vredestein tyres. To start with, we will sell these tyres through multi-brand stores, including existing Apollo Zones, and may be standalone stores in the future,” Satish Sharma, Chief-India Operations, Apollo Tyres, told reporters here.

The company has plans to make these tyres in India in the long run, but as of now, it would like to present the tyre as a European brand, he said.

The replacement market for passenger car tyres in India is around 14 lakh units a month and Apollo has around five per cent (around 70,000 tyres) market share, Sharma said. The company will compete with tyre-makers such as Italy’s Pirelli & C SpA and France’s Michelin in the premium segment .

The company will sell the Vredestein brand of tyres with sizes of 15-inch to 20-inch, primarily catering to luxury coupes, premium luxury sedans and SUVs, with speeds up to 240 to 300 kph, he added.

Shares of the company closed at Rs 78.75 on the BSE, up 0.51 per cent from the previous close.

>ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in

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