Apollo Tyres intends to focus production at its plant in the Netherlands on ag and “high-value tires,” or niche segment passenger car tires with a short production run, the company says.

Within the current operating environment, certain tire sizes can no longer continue being produced in the plant, located in Enschede, at a sustainable and competitive level, Apollo says. As a result, Apollo is reducing its workforce in the Netherlands by approximately 750 full-time employees, over a period of 24 months.

“The operating environment for AVBV (the plant) and the entire tire industry has changed significantly over the last few years,” says Benoit Rivallant, president of Apollo Vredestein in Europe. “Despite large investments made in recent years in modernizing the plant, the factory employees’ dedication and continuous efforts to make the site economically viable has proved ineffective against the accelerated market transformation and has required a strategic adaption of the site to secure it has a sustainable future in the long run. After a deep analysis of the profitability and sustainability of the products currently produced in the Enschede plant, we regrettably could not arrive at a different conclusion.”