Toyo to further expand US tire plant

Hyogo, Japan – Toyo Tire Corp. is moving ahead with a previously announced expansion of its US tire plant in White, Georgia., the company has announced

The latest project will increase capacity by nearly 10% to 13.9 million passenger and light truck tires annually by January 2021.

The $65-million project will involve installing new manufacturing equipment in a hall that was added to the 13-year-old plant during an on-going factory upgrade – started in October 2017.

Toyo said the expansion will support its strategy to increase sales in North America by optimising the product mix to reflect market trends and improve R&D and technical capabilities.

The company stressed that this expansion will support its already substantial capacity for the larger rim-diameter tires that are in high demand in North America for pickup trucks and larger SUVs.

Toyo spent $125 million the past couple of years to add a 254,000-sq.-ft. production hall to the plant, which sits on a 150-acre plot of land in rural Bartow County, about 50 miles northwest of Atlanta.

Toyo anticipates the expansion will create 120 jobs by 2021 when production is expected to start.

Employment there now stands at about 2,100 with the pending completion later this year of the Phase IV expansion begun in 2017.

The factory employs Toyo’s proprietary ‘advanced tire operation module’ automated manufacturing system.

Considered the largest of Toyo’s seven tire factories worldwide, the plant produced its 50 millionth tire in January.