QUALITY INTERIORS How important is the interior of your car? And your car seat covers? Marco Cavallaro - CEO of Apollo SpA - explains to Barbara Rossi the high level of quality and safety demanded by the automotive sector with regard to its components, including the vehicle interior textiles supplied by Apollo.
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pollo SpA was set up in 1969 as a manufacturer of upholstery for home furnishings. An important change of direction came in 1985, when it switched to the production of textiles for industrial use, specifically for the car interiors industry. Gradually this business evolved into the manufacturing of textiles for the whole automotive interiors sector. Today the company has grown into a group which designs and manufactures textiles for the rail, aviation and marine sectors as well as for the
automotive core business (which includes textiles for bus interiors). As well as supplying the actual textiles, the group is also able to supply seat covers, a service requested by many of its customers. “Because of the type of applications for which they are used, our products have to feature characteristics such as durability, fire resistance and smoke resistance,” Mr Cavallaro explains. Apollo SpA is now a group with three subsidiaries: Botto RO, Apollo Industria Filati and European Interior Srl. The group is head-
quartered in Capalle, near Florence; both Botto RO and Apollo Industria Filati are also situated between Florence and the nearby town of Prato, while European Interior Srl is located in Romania. As well as leading the group, which employs 450 people overall, Apollo SpA designs and manufactures textiles for car interiors, while Botto RO carries out a parallel activity but for trains, planes, buses and ships. Apollo Industria Filati provides technical support, carrying out some of the produc-
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