The Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd announced that it would construct a new plant to manufacture truck/bus (TB) tires in the United States.
With a capital investment of $300 million, the Japanese tire maker plans to build the new plant with an annual production capacity of one million tires. Under the company’s plan, the construction will begin by September 2013 for starting production from October 2015. The location, proposed to be in West Point MS, is awaiting legislative approval from the state.
Yokohama Rubber has been providing tires to the North American market through GTY Tire Co, a US joint venture company specialized in manufacturing TB tires, and through export from Japan and Thailand. Yokohama Rubber considered it necessary to build the new plant to accommodate the growing demand for its brand and further strengthen a system aimed at “local production for local consumption.”
The new plant is slated to be built on a more than 500-acre site and represents Phase I of Yokohama’s overall plan for the site. Potential expansions could increase the original business size up to about four times in accordance with future business growth.
