Yokohama expands US tyre plant

Fullerton, California - Increasing demand for its consumer and light truck tyres has prompted Yokohama Tire Corp to expand its Salem, Virginia, manufacturing plant. The expansion is slated for completion by August 2011, the firm said in a 27 Oct announcement.

The $13-million (Euro million) project will include new tyre-making machinery, upgrading and modifying existing machines and an increase in high-performance and light truck tyre manufacturing flexibility, the statement said.

“We have seen very strong demand and our increase is well above the industry average,” said Dan King, Yokohama vice president, sales and marketing. “We have gained more allocation from our offshore plants, but it is not enough. That's why the expansion at Salem will help fill the pipeline with our popular consumer tyres such as the Avid ENVigor and S.drive products, as well as light truck tyres from our Geolandar line.”

King added that the strong demand for Yokohama tyres is across the board. In June, for instance, YTC's parent company, Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. in Japan, announced a third-term expansion in its Thailand plant. The investment there will be 9.7 billion yen (Euro $117 million) and will increase the plant's capacity to produce passenger car and light truck tyres by 1.4 million units.

This will take the plant's overall output to four million tyres annually. The Thailand plant has been producing passenger car and light truck tyres since 2006, and tyres for trucks and buses since April 2005.

“The plant expansions are a strategic initiative aimed at ensuring that our product supply is in step with the market demand,” said King. “The investments are a reinforcement of Yokohama's commitment to the consumers and our dealer network.”

Celebrating its 40th anniversary in the United States, Yokohama Tire Corp is the North American manufacturing and marketing arm of The Yokohama Rubber Co., a global manufacturing and sales company of premium tyres since 1917.

Servicing a network of more than 4500 points of sale in the U.S., Yokohama Tire Corp claims to be a leader in technology and innovation. The company's complete product line includes the dB Super E-spec, the world's first tyre to use orange oil to reduce petroleum, as well as tyres for high-performance vehicles, light trucks, passenger cars, commercial trucks and buses, and off-the-road mining and construction applications. For more information on Yokohama's extensive product line, visit www.yokohamatire.com.