Apollo Tyres may set up an R&D facility in Germany, a country known for its forte in tyre technology, said Onkar S Kanwar, CMD, Apollo Tyres.

The facility is a stepping-stone towards strengthening the company's existing alliance with a German university (Leipzig Institute of Polymer Science) that has professionals from various global tyre majors as experts. These experts are helping Apollo on the development of novel technology for tyres.

It is looking at two other universities in Germany for a similar exercise. This initiative is quite similar to that of Michelin (the world's largest manufacturer of tyres) - it has a tie-up with the University of Actron, US for tyre research and development.

Apollo is also working with Indian institutes such as National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and IIT Kharagpur for design and development of rubber technology, respectively.

Taken from Business Line

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