Apollo Tyres today announced its entry into the two-wheeler tyre segment and unveiled its Acti range of tyres for motorcycles and scooters. Designed and developed at the company’s Global R&D Centre in Chennai, Apollo Acti series for bikes and scooters, would cover nearly 85% of the replacement market for two-wheeler tyres in India.
Initially, Apollo is launching 3 patterns for rear application in motorcycles – ActiGrip R1 and R2 in block pattern and ActiZip R3 in directional pattern. In addition, 3 patterns of front application in motorcycles –ActiSteer F1 in straight rib pattern and ActiZip F2 and F3 in directional patterns and 2 directional patterns for front and rear application in ActiZip S1 and S2 and 2 block patterns for rear application in ActiGrip S3 and S4 – are being rolled out.
Onkar S Kanwar, Chairman, Apollo Tyres Ltd said, “This is a milestone for Apollo Tyres as the entry into the two-wheeler segment makes the company a full-range player. The presence in the two-wheeler segment will help the company cement its leadership position in India. The Apollo Acti series will provide the best value proposition to our customers along with an enjoyable driving experience.”
The two-wheeler category, which is growing at a CAGR of 8.5% in India, has a huge potential for tyre manufacturers. As per rough estimates, India currently has 120 million two-wheelers. This, in addition to the demand from the business partners for the company’s two-wheeler tyres, led to Apollo Tyres’ foray into the two-wheeler tyre segment.
Speaking at the launch, Neeraj Kanwar, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, Apollo Tyres said, “Our R&D and product team have spent over 2 years in developing the two-wheeler tyres, which are best suited for the diverse Indian road conditions. Like always, we have tried to introduce a product range which will delight our customers and allow them to have a seamless and enjoyable riding experience.”
The Apollo Acti series tyres are capable of excellent dry and wet braking besides having very high levels of cornering stability which becomes essential in Indian driving conditions. Designed with primary focus on grip, safety and comfort, these tyres are robust with optimally oriented tread blocks and grooves for ultimate grip and high speed cornering performance. Made with new age polymers-based high mileage tread compound, these tubeless and tube type tyres have stress free casing structure with extra protection at tread and bead area.
Currently Apollo has outsourced the manufacturing operations to a firm in South India which has been producing two-wheeler tyres for the last 20-30 years. Kanwar mentioned that “once the desired volumes are met, we will be looking at manufacturing at our facility. We are yet to decide on wheather to go for new facility or make the tyres in the existing facility.”
