BARODA, India (Nov. 17, 2010) — Apollo Tyres Ltd. plans to set up its own fundamental research center in India.
Peter Becker, Apollo's head of R&D, said this will not affect the company's existing development centers in the Netherlands, South Africa and India, but Apollo needs to carry out fundamental research into tire technology and into process and machinery, if it is to meet its ambition to be a world-class player.
Mr. Becker said to do this, the company needs a single, global research center which will look for new materials, new compounds, new concepts, new process methods and equipment. This is outside the day-to-day development jobs.
No final decisions have been made, but the unit is expected to be set up in Chennai because of the proximity both to OE manufacturers and to Apollo's most advanced tire plant, the company said.