Apollo Tyres joint chairman Neeraj Kanwar has spoken out in support of keeping and even expanding Apollo and Cooper’s existing manufacturing sites. With the dust still settling following the news of the acquisition of Cooper by Apollo, Kanwar’s comments, which came as part of an interview with Tyres & Accessories, appear to act as a further assurance that the company has no plans to close its manufacturing locations.
The remarks will be especially welcome in the U.K., where Cooper runs a factory in Melksham, Wiltshire, which had been the subject of local news speculation for some time prior to the takeover announcement. While it is still too early to examine the finer details, the plans seem to focus on maintaining manufacturing and investing in growth at existing plants.
“Post the closure of this deal, we will soon start the integration process, wherein further details will be worked out. However, on a broad basis we see significant growth potential at each of the operations and believe that we will need to add capacities at key locations,” Kanwar explained.
Pressed on whether or not there would be any factory closures, post finalization of the deal, the Apollo joint chairman was clear: “We are not looking at closing any of the facilities around the world; instead, we might consider expanding these facilities in the long run.”
Regarding the Melksham plant in particular, he said, “Like all other facilities around the world, we are not looking at closing Melksham, U.K., as well. It is a profitable operation that adds significant value to the overall operation.”
The reason for Apollo’s optimism regarding the ability to maintain and grow production plants appears to center on the company’s existing local for local manufacturing orientation: “Again, the details will be worked out during the integration process. Conceptually though, we will follow the broad principle of near-sourcing, that is producing close to key consuming markets, that Cooper has so successfully been following for the last few years.”
And as far as output is concerned, there is every indication that existing factories will continue producing the same product types they are now: “All manufacturing facilities will continue to produce various categories of tires as before, and we don’t see any change in the near term.” (Tyres & Accessories)
