Apollo Tyres forays into two-wheeler tyre market

Indian tyre manufacturer Apollo has officially forayed into the two-wheeler tyre market. The company's first offering in this segment comes in the form of Apollo Acti series tyres. This tyre is designed and developed at the company's global R and D center in Chennai. The Acti Series of tyres will cater to both motorcycles and scooters and would cover around 85 per cent of the replacement market for two-wheeler tyres in India.

Onkar S Kanwar, Chairman of Apollo Tyres 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.”

Although the company admits that they are late in entering this segment, they believe they can become market leaders. Two-wheeler tyre market has been very tempting for the tyre manufacturers as there are around 120 million two-wheelers in the country. Moreover, the two-wheeler category in India is growing at a rate of 8.5 per cent.

Speaking at the launch event, Neeraj Kanwar, Vice Chairman and Managing director of Apollo Tyres Ltd said, “Our R and 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.”

[caption id="attachment_2533" align="alignnone" width="5344"] Apollo Scooter tyre[/caption]

According to the company, the Acti Series tyres have excellent braking capability on both wet and dry surfaces. Complementing this is the high level of cornering stability offered by the tyres. During the development of these tyres, the engineers mainly focused on three properties - grip, safety and comfort.

The Apollo Acti Series range will be available in both tubeless and tube-type form.

Tyres that are offered in Apollo Acti Series-

Motorcycle Rear Tyres- There are three different patterns available for Motorcycle rear tyres - actiGRIP R1 and R2 in block pattern and actiZIP R3 in directional pattern. The Block pattern design will multi-application tyre that can perform on/off road and city/highway in different climatic conditions.

On the other hand, directional pattern actiZIP R3 is more of a road tyre that is meant for wet and dry grip in highway application.

Motorcycle Front Tyres- There are three design patterns for the motorcycle front application, actiSTEER F1 is a straight rib pattern and actiZIP F2 and F3 utilises directional patterns.

Scooter Tyres- For the scooter tyre, there are 2 directional pattern for front and rear wheels comprising of actiZIP S1 and S2. Additionally, there are two block patterns for the rear wheel - actiGRIP S3 and S4. Directional pattern will deliver precise steering control and cornering. The block pattern, on the other hand, performs well on varied terrains.

The company also disclosed that in the second phase, they will introduce high performance radial tyres. Expect this to happen within two years.