Continental to invest millions in Mount Vernon plant
Mount Vernon, Illinois -- Continental Tire North America Inc. said it will spend more than $60 million to expand its passenger and light truck tyre and its commercial vehicle tyre operations at its Mount Vernon plant over the next three years.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Continental Tire North America said the investments will result in the addition of about 75 jobs at the Mount Vernon facility.
CEO Matthias Schoenberg said the investment will allow for increased manufacturing flexibility enabling Continental to adjust to growing market demand for replacement tyres, particularly in categories such high-performance and ultra-high performance that provide higher added value to both Continental and its customers.
Continental said more than $40 million of the investment will be directed to passenger and light truck operations for machinery and tooling. That will increase capacity by about 2 million tyres per year.
In addition, about $20 million will be invested in the commercial vehicle tyre operations to provide new and updated machinery and tooling to accommodate additional product brought in from Europe. As a result, Mount Vernon will make and supply more tyres for the Canadian and U.S. markets and continue to be home to more than 90 percent of the tire maker's total commercial vehicle tyre production in the U.S., according to the company.
The latest plan comes in addition to Conti North America's previously announced $160 million investment in both the passenger and light truck tyre and commercial vehicle tyre divisions at Mount Vernon, bringing the total investment there since 2006 to more than $220 million.
From Rubber & Plastics News (A Crain publication)
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