Ex-Pirelli CEO Gori joins Apollo Tyres

GURGAON, India (Oct. 27, 2015) — Apollo Tyres Ltd. has hired former Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. CEO Francesco Gori as an adviser for strategy to help it identify and develop new opportunities toward international growth.

Mr. Gori left Pirelli in May 2012 after 33 years with the Italian tire maker, the last six as CEO and managing director of Pirelli & C. S.p.A. He was bound by a three-year non-compete agreement, Pirelli said at the time.

Neeraj Kanwar, vice chairman and managing director of Apollo, said it is a “privilege” for Apollo to have a person of Mr. Gori's stature join the Indian tire maker.

“He is widely acknowledged as the architect of the successful premium strategy of his former company,” Mr. Kanwar said, “and we look forward to his insight and guidance to sharpen Apollo's focus and implementation in the brand and technology areas.

“We also see him as an invaluable resource in developing new opportunities with his deep and wide knowledge of the industry around the world.”

For his part, Mr. Gori said, “As a successful organization, Apollo Tyres is accelerating its growth by strengthening its presence in its existing markets and extracting value from its recent [$615 million] greenfield investment in Europe to enhance its key global brands — Apollo and Vredestein.

“I look forward to work with Neeraj and his team in their journey to become a significant player in the tire industry.”

Apollo is considered the No. 2 tire maker in India and No. 17 worldwide, based on 2014 sales volume of $2.08 billion, as ranked by Tire Business.

A native of Florence, Italy, Mr. Gori joined Pirelli in 1978 in the firm's motorcycle tires business and moved steadily up through the company's sales and marketing ranks, becoming general manager of the firm's car tire sector in 2001 and CEO of Pirelli Tyre in 2006.