The board of Apollo Tyres NL (ATNL) has submitted a request for advice to its Works Council as it intends to discontinue the tire production and production-related activities at the company’s plant in Enschede in the Netherlands by the summer of 2026. All staff have been informed accordingly.
This decision comes after Apollo conducted an investigation. It is driven by continued rising costs at ATNL due to macro-economic disruptions, steep increases in energy and labor costs, and a decline in demand for Spacemaster and agri tires. Together with pricing pressure from low-cost competitors, these factors make manufacturing at ATNL uncompetitive. Apollo expects the high-cost situation to continue, and has therefore concluded that production will no longer be profitable.
“Submitting the request for advice to the Works Council on the intended decision to discontinue production has been enormously difficult,” said Benoit Rivallant, president at ATNL. “In the last couple of years, we have implemented several initiatives to reduce costs at Enschede. These initiatives resulted in some savings, but most of these were completely negated due to the ever-increasing inflation. After thorough investigation, we saw no other option than to recommend the discontinuation of the production activities at Enschede as the management board of Apollo Tyres NL BV.
“We take our obligations toward our employees and the Works Council very seriously. We have engaged with them in line with these obligations and will continue to do so. We will also be in communication with customers, suppliers and other parties across the value chain and will continue to do business as usual. There is no change in our working relationship, and we continue to focus on providing exceptional customer service. The execution of the intended decision is subject to completion of the Works Council consultation process and supervisory board approval.”
Apollo Tyres NL is a Dutch manufacturer of pneumatic tires for cars and agricultural vehicles. The company is based in Enschede and is part of Apollo Tyres Ltd., which is headquartered in Gurugram, India.
In related news, Magna Tyres recently announced the appointment of Hein de Wind as its chief commercial officer (CCO), effective immediately. Click here to read the full story.
