Conti to invest $75 million in US automated tire warehouse

Fort Mill, South Carolina — Continental has announced plans to invest $76 million (€64 million) in a new highly automated finished-goods warehouse at its Mount Vernon tire plant in Illinois.

The facility, scheduled to begin operations in 2027, will have storage capacity for around 500,000 passenger car tires and is intended to support growing regional demand while improving distribution efficiency and customer service levels.

Construction is expected to start this summer, Continental announced 8 May.

“Our new highly automated finished-goods warehouse underscores our growth ambitions in North America,” said Tansu Isik, CEO of Continental Tires Americas.

“The new facility will enhance our ability to serve customers with greater speed and flexibility while strengthening our overall distribution network in the region,” he added.

According to Continental, the warehouse will cover an area 'larger than six American football fields' and form part of broader efforts to modernise manufacturing and logistics operations.

The investment would “further modernise our operations, and make our plant logistics more efficient,” noted Nik Pearce, plant manager at Mount Vernon.

“At the same time, it strengthens our operations at local level and creates new development opportunities for our employees,” he added.

The Mount Vernon site is Continental’s largest tire manufacturing plant in the US and has been operational for more than 50 years.

The facility, which Continental acquired in 1987, manufactures passenger car, light truck and commercial vehicle tires and has annual production capacity of around 11.4 million units.

Continental said the project forms part of ongoing investments in automation and digitalisation across its global tire manufacturing network, which includes 19 plants in 16 countries.