Apollo Vredestein B.V. is a

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

-based tire manufacturer. Since 2009, it has been owned by the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

tyre maker

Apollo Tyres Apollo Tyres Limited is an Indian multinational tyre manufacturing company headquartered in Gurugram, Haryana. It was incorporated in 1972, and its first plant was commissioned in Perambra in Thrissur, Kerala. The company now has five manufac ...

. Apollo Vredestein has its head office in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands, and its production facility in

Enschede Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...

. It designs, manufactures, and sells tires under the Apollo and Vredestein brand names through offices in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

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

History

Emile Louis Constant Schiff became the owner of the Nederlandse

Guttapercha Gutta-percha is a tree of the genus '' Palaquium'' in the family Sapotaceae, which is primarily used to create a high-quality latex of the same name. The material is rigid, naturally biologically inert, resilient, electrically nonconductive, a ...

Maatschappij in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

, the forerunner of Apollo Vredestein, on 6 November 1908.

Vredestein, 1909–2009

In 1909, the company moved to

Loosduinen Loosduinen () is a former village in the Netherlands that was a municipality unto itself until 1923, when it was annexed by The Hague and subsequently became a district of the city. Within the district there is also a neighbourhood (Dutch:wijk) c ...

and changed its name to N.V. Rubberfabriek Vredestein. The name Vredestein comes from the name of the farm Schiff bought in Loosduinen in 1909, where he first started making rubber. The company initially specialised in all kinds of rubber products, including shoe heels, tennis balls, floor coverings, 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

, with American company B. F. Goodrich owning just over 20% of the shares. A year later, Schiff laid the cornerstone of the plant in Enschede. The growth of the company accelerated in 1962 when it merged with N.V. Rubberfabrieken Hevea in Raalte. 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 1971, the company became wholly owned by B.F. Goodrich. Soon after, Vredestein's products found their way to 125 countries. In 1976, the Dutch state took over 49% of the shares in Vredestein, 2% was 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. The shares 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. A collaboration was established with Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro in the late 1990s.

Apollo Vredestein, since 2009

In 2009, Vredestein was acquired by India's

, Ltd., and the company name was changed to Apollo Vredestein B.V. In January 2013, Apollo Tyres Ltd announced the opening of its global R&D center in Enschede, developing and testing car and van tires for the company. On 12 June 2013 Apollo Tyres Ltd announced the acquisition of

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is an American company that specializes in the design, manufacture, marketing, and sales of replacement automobile and truck tires, and has subsidiaries that specialize in medium truck, motorcycle, and racing tires. W ...

in a US$2.5 billion deal. This would have turned Apollo Tyre into the world's seventh-largest tyre company, with combined global revenue of an estimated US$6.6 billion, according to Tire Review data, but on 30 December 2013, the Cooper acquisition was called off. In May 2015, Apollo Tyres announced the relocation of its European head office from Enschede, to Amsterdam. The move happened in the following months. On 5 March 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

Apollo Vredestein B.V. is represented 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.

References

{{reflist

External links

Vredestein website

Apollo Tyres Ltd website
Tire manufacturers of the Netherlands Cycle parts manufacturers Dutch brands Manufacturing companies established in 1909 2009 mergers and acquisitions Dutch companies established in 1909 Manufacturing companies based in Amsterdam Enschede Loosduinen