Most of our plants are currently open around the world. As far as India is concerned, all our plants are open. Sales have started gradually increasing, especially in the commercial vehicle segment as trucks are still transporting essential commodities. The demand for agricultural tires is also starting to increase in India. It is a very dynamic situation.

The demand outlook for automakers is bleak. How will this affect this impact? Apollo tires?

Apollo sales represent 80% of replacement demand and 20% of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) demand. Our focus now is to look at our sales in the replacement market, which is starting to recover gradually as OEMs open up the market. The demand for OEMs will be very low. Indian factories across industries need flexibility in production based on supply and demand.

You have raised funds recently

The main investor was from Warburg Pincus. Warburg is our long-term strategic partner. Given our global experience in the U.S., Europe and Asia, we believe this partnership can bring significant strategic investment to the organization. The company has also issued non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to raise Rs. 5 billion, with an additional sanction of Rs. 1 billion, primarily to ensure that the company’s liquidity is good and its balance sheet is not under pressure.

Strong.

What kind of enablers is this industry looking for?

For the past two years, the government has been discussing a vehicle scrapping policy but it is yet to be released. The second is to raise India’s anti-dumping duty on all Chinese imports. Last year, the automobile industry went into recession even before the virus broke out. In particular, a stimulus package is needed.

What is the minimum capacity required to break even?

I can’t give you a specific number, but given the situation, we’ve started to look at reducing costs internally.