Apollo Vredestein

Apollo Vredestein B.V. is a Netherlands-based tire manufacturer. Since 2009, it is owned by Apollo Tyres Ltd of India. Apollo Vredestein B.V. has its head office in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and its production facility in Enschede. It designs, manufactures and sells tires under the Apollo and Vredestein brand names via offices in Europe and North America.

Apollo Vredestein B.V.
IndustryTire
FoundedNetherlands, 1909
Headquarters
Enschede 
ProductsTires for car, agricultural and industrial applications and bicycles.
Revenue994,000,000 US dollar (2007) 
-243,000,000 United States dollar (2007) 
Number of employees
1,800
ParentApollo Tyres
Websitewww.apollovredestein.com

Vredestein products include car tires, tires for agricultural and industrial applications, and bicycle tires. A significant number of car tires are designed by the Italian design house Giugiaro Design. The brand is over 100 years old.

History
Vredestein Sportrac 5 195/55 R 15 (2017)

Emile Louis Constant Schiff[1] became the owner of the Nederlandse Guttapercha Maatschappij in Delft, the forerunner of Apollo Vredestein, on 6 November 1908. In 1909, the company moved to Loosduinen and changed its name to NV Rubberfabriek Vredestein. The name Vredestein comes from the name of the farm Schiff bought in Loosduinen in 1909 and where he first started making rubber.

The company initially specialised in all kinds of rubber products, including shoe heels, tennis balls, floor covering, boots and indoor football balls.

On 13 September 1934, most of the factory in Loosduinen was lost in a fire. Reconstruction started immediately, and the bicycle tire factory in Doetinchem was established in the same year.

In 1946, the NV Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Autobanden-fabriek Vredestein was founded in Enschede, with the American company B.F. Goodrich owning just over 20% of the shares. A year later, Schiff laid the cornerstone of the plant in Enschede.[2]

The growth of the company accelerated in 1962 when it merged with N.V. Rubberfabrieken Hevea in Raalte. In 1971, the company became wholly owned by B.F. Goodrich and Vredestein's products were soon finding their way to 125 different countries.

Under the influence of globalisation, in the 1970s the Vredestein brand increasingly came to focus on car, agricultural, industrial and two-wheeler tires. The oil crisis prompted many mergers in the tire industry during these years.

In 1976, the Dutch state took over 49% of the shares in Vredestein, and two percent were obtained by the Stichting tot Voortzetting van Vredestein (Foundation for the Continuation of Vredestein). While the remaining 49% initially remained in the possession of B.F. Goodrich, they were later taken over by the Foundation for a symbolic sum. In the early 1990s, the company was acquired from the State by three Dutch investors.[3]

A collaboration was established with the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro in the late 1990s. Giugiaro Design designs high-performance tires for Vredestein.

In 2009, Vredestein was acquired by India's Apollo Tyres Ltd,[4] and the company name was changed to Apollo Vredestein B.V. The bulk of production still takes place in Enschede.

In January 2013, Apollo Tyres Ltd announced the opening of its global R&D centre in Enschede, Netherlands, that will develop and test car and van tires for the company.[5]

On 12 June 2013, Apollo Tyres Ltd announced the acquisition of Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. in a US$2.5 billion deal. This would have turned Apollo Tyre Ltd into the world's seventh-largest tire company, with combined global revenue of an estimated US$6.6 billion, according to Tire Review data,[6] but on 30 December 2013, the Cooper acquisition was called off.[7]

In May 2015, Apollo Tyres Ltd announced the relocation of its European head office from Enschede, to Amsterdam, Netherlands. The move is intended to make it easier to fill high-level positions and take advantage of the close proximity to Schiphol airport.[8]

On march 5 2020 the Company announced that 750 jobs were to become redundant within 2 years. The intention is that the production of regular car tyres will be halted within that period.

Structure

Offices in the world

Apollo Vredestein B.V. is represent by:

  • Netherlands: Apollo Vredestein B.V., Amsterdam
  • Netherlands: Apollo Vredestein Nederland B.V., Enschede
  • Germany: Apollo Vredestein GmbH, Vallendar
  • Belgium: N.V. Apollo Vredestein BeLux S.A.,Bruxelles
  • France: Apollo Vredestein France S.A. Paris
  • Austria: Apollo Vredestein Ges. m.b.H., Wenen
  • Switzerland: Apollo Vredestein Schweiz AG, Baden
  • Italy: Apollo Vredestein Italia S.R.L., Rimini
  • United Kingdom: Apollo Vredestein (UK) Ltd Kettering
  • Spain: Apollo Vredestein Iberica S.A. Cityparc. Edificio Bruselas. Barcelona
  • Sweden: Apollo Vredestein Däck AB, Hisings Backa (SW), Apollo Vredestein Norge A/S, Hisings Backa (NW)
  • United States: Apollo Vredestein Tire Inc., Atlanta, GA
  • Hungary: Apollo Vredestein Kft. Budapest
  • Poland: Apollo Vredestein Polska Sp. z o.o. Warszawa
  • Other countries: Apollo Vredestein Export, Enschede

Management
  • Onkar S. Kanwar, Chairman, Apollo Tyres Ltd
  • Neeraj Kanwar, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Apollo Tyres Ltd
  • Benoit Rivallant, CEO, Apollo Vredestein B.V.[9]
gollark: Hello!
gollark: * 152.93, actually, I remeasured.
gollark: 152.94 megaoffense.
gollark: I feel like this calls your competence as a possible GTech™ employee into question.
gollark: Yes, but the usual protocol isn't encrypted or at all secured.

References
  1. iisg.nl
  2. rezulteo-tyres.co.uk
  3. dfwperformancetires.com
  4. hindubusinessline.com
  5. autokompas.nl
  6. tirereview.com
  7. wsj.com
  8. tiresandparts.net
  9. "Benoit Rivallant appointed as president of Apollo Vredestein in Europe".
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