BAIBF 09012

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT AND INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

SUBMITTED BY

MANU VARGHESE
 Apollo Tyres Ltd

Apollo Tyres Ltd. came into inception in 1972 and has since been a trusted name in the
business of manufacture and sale of tyres. With our corporate headquarters in Gurgaon, India,
we cater to over a 100 countries across the globe. The company markets its products under
our two global brands- Apollo and Vredestein. These products are available in countries
across the globe through a vast network of branded, exclusive and multi-product outlets.
Apollo Tyres has multiple manufacturing units in India, the Netherlands and Hungary.

At the end of the financial year 2017, the company clocked a turnover of US$ 1.94 billion,
backed by a global workforce of approximately 16,000 employees. As of March 31, 2017, the
company traded in India on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange, with
56% of shares held by the public, government entities, banks and financial institutions.

1. Marketing Strategy
Sectors such as financial services, real estate, insurance and professional services have
outgrown the national average, with an estimated growth rate of 9% for FY17.

India’s robust growth was also reflected in commendable numbers reported by the Auto
sector, compared to subdued results in the previous year. It posted growth of 9.2% for FY17,
outpacing its last year’s growth of 7.2%. However, the Commercial Vehicle (CV) segment
grew at a slower pace of 4.2% as against its previous year’s double-digit growth of 11.5%.
The year also saw major gains made by the two-wheeler segment which grew at 6.8% as
compared to 2.8% in FY16.

The strong performance of the tyre industry during this fiscal, was another indicator of In-
dia’s inherent economic strength. According to the 9-month data from the Automotive Tyre
Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA), the overall industry shows a volume growth of 12%,
led primarily by the PV, Scooters and Motorcycle/ Moped segments which account for nearly
77% of the total tyre volume production.

1.1 Product:
The products made by Apollo tyres ltd are tyres, tubes, flaps for passenger cars, trucks, buses,
farm, motor bikes, industrial and earthmover. The different products in the marketing mix of
Apollo tyres within each category are shown below:

• Passenger car: Apollo offers passenger car tyres for cars, SUV and vans. This
includes Radial, Crossply and SUV tyres. Some of the popular brands offered by Apollo tyres
are: Amazer 4G life, Apterra AT and Apterra HT.

• Trucks and buses: Apollo offers different products under this category demending on
things you transport (cargo or people) and depending on terrain (urban, regional, long haul,
mixed, speciality). This includes Radial and bias type of tyre construction. Some of the
popular products are: Mine Lug, XT-9 Gold, Endu Race LD etc.
• Farm or Agriculture: Apollo offers tyres for tractors, harvesters , Trailer implement,
small equipment. Some of the products are: Bhim, Powerhaul, Krishak etc.

• Motor bike: Apollo offers tyre for different bike models like Suzuki slingshot, pulsar,
Honda etc. Some of the products offered in this segment are: Actizip F3, Actizip S2 etc.

1.2 Price:
Apollo Tyre ltd. face tough competitors from the market leader MRF and other companies
like JK tyres, Bridgestone, Ceat etc. Hence the pricing strategy in the marketing mix of
Apollo is mostly a competitor pricing strategy. There are some other brands like JK tyres,
Goodyear etc that also that uses the same pricing strategy but it is the quality and service
provided by the Apollo company that sets it apart from its competitors. A typical car tubeless
tyre from Apollo would cost around Rs. 4000-4200 and a HCV tyre would cost around price
range of Rs. 17000-17500. Apollo Tyres ltd has got good B2B connect with automobile
companies like Mercedec, Volkswagen etc and it sells its product at competitive price.

1.3 Place:
Apollo Tyres ltd. distribution channels include factories, regional distribution centres, dealers
and carrying and forwarding agents. In 2016, the company had around 4900 retail dealers of
which nearly 1700 are exclusive retail dealers of Apollo in India and around 3550 dealer
outlet in Europe. The company also has 13 European National Sales offices. Apollo tyre ltd.
sells its product to more than 100 countries globally. Apollo Tyres Ltd. has got four
manufacturing units in India and one in Netherlands. The company also plans to build one
more manufacturing unit in Hungary which will commence its operation in early 2017. The
company has also 19 state office, 150 sales and service offices across India, 17 regional
distribution centres across India. Apollo also has a wide specialist network: Apollo Super
Zone, Apollo point etc. Apollo tyre ltd. also boasts of delivering their product within 24 hours
anywhere in India due to their extensive distribution network.

1.4 Promotion:
Apollo tyre has become a big brand in tyre industry with the help of innovative marketing
strategies. The prime objective in the promotional strategy in the marketing mix of Apollo is
to have a complete and comprehensive marketing campaign. Apollo tied up with Manchester
United Football club for promotions and branding. The company also engages in strategies
like running tyre loyalty programs, better contact with its customers to encourage them for
better driving habits. The advertisements of its product strikes a chord with its customer as it
emphasizes on durability and long life of product. Apollo company public relation strategy
‘Adopt a pothole’ won Cannes silver lion award. This was a smart campaign move which got
high customer engagement with customers. Apollo Tyres ltd. brand Vredestein social media
campaign #RockTheRoad (music video by DJ Hhardwell) won Global Dolphin Award at
Cannes in integrated communication category. Apollo also promotes Indian tennis players
and sponsoring tennis competition which brings brand awareness among youngsters to the
company. Hence, all these above points summarize the marketing mix of Apollo tyres.
 2. Human Resource

People – employees, customers, partners, investors etc – form the bedrock for the success of
Apollo Tyres. Employees are one of the key strengths of Apollo Tyres and HR plays an
important role of managing, guiding and motivating the Company’s workforce. Moreover,
HR at Apollo Tyres is viewed as a strategic business partner aligned with the business
requirements. The year saw the announcement of Vision 2020 - “To be a Premier tyre
company with a diversified and multinational presence,” along with aspirations for the
APMEA and Europe regions. The four key parameters to determine the success of Vision
2020 include:

1. Recognition as a premium brand,

2. Preferred partner for our customers,
3. High quality products and services, while caring for society
4. Attract, empower and retain the best people.

The Company also launched Passion in Motion (PIM) 2.0 to achieve the strategic priorities
and serve as a foundation to Vision 2020. To further aid PIM 2.0 and create a single, unified
process with a common timetable and language, Team HR introduced Horizon, a new
performance management process. This created some HR challenges. Nevertheless, it has
given the Company the opportunity to hire an international workforce to support its European
business. In order to provide a safe and efficient working environment, HR has taken multiple
initiatives around health and capability building. This rigorous training required that each
new shop floor operator participate in over 190 days of training in technical, theoretical and
practical subjects.

The company won the hr distinction award 2017 under the ‘emerging leader in hr’ category.
 3. Operational Aspects
1. Supply chain
Apollo is conscious about environmental protection therefore utmost care is taken while selecting new
materials such that steps are taken for reduction of environmental burden. The Company also has a
Sustainable Supply Chain Policy at corporate level. Apollo Tyres believes that supply chain is a key
contributor in the development and implementation of its Corporate Social Responsibility
Programme, and expects its Business Partners to show concern for social and environmental
responsibility as they conduct their business. Apollo’s endeavour is to work jointly with Partners to
promote and encourage compliance with the Partner Code of Conduct (PCC). Suppliers are expected
to comply with Apollo’s Partner Code of Conduct (PCC) and integrate environmental, occupational
health and safety, and human rights and labour policies into their business and decision-making
processes.

2. Quality management
Supplier audits and on-site assessment of suppliers are conducted at the time of selection of new
suppliers and also conducted periodically for existing suppliers as per audit criteria. The scope of
supplier audit covers various elements like quality management system, environmental standards,
occupational health and safety standards and others as per our Green Procurement Standards and
Partner Code of Conduct. Our audit teams visit them at regular intervals for compliance check as per
the standard audit checklist. The supplier improvement plans are drawn up after the audit, agreed and
followed up with the suppliers until closure.