The $13 million project will include new tire-making machinery, upgrading and modifying existing production equipment and an increase in high performance and light truck tire manufacturing flexibility.
The expansion is slated for completion by August of next year.
“We have seen very strong demand and our increase is well above the industry average,” says Dan King, vice president of sales and marketing.“We have gained more allocation from our offshore plants, but it is not enough,” he explains. “That’s why the expansion at Salem will help fill the pipeline with our popular consumer tires such as the AVID ENVigor and S.drive, as well as light truck tires from our GEOLANDAR line.”
King adds that the strong demand for the company’s tires is across the board. In June, for instance, the parent firm – Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. in Japan – announced a third-term expansion for its Thailand plant. The investment will cost 9.7 billion yen ($117 million) and will increase the facility’s capacity to produce car and light truck tires by 1.4 million units. This will expand the plant’s overall output to 4 million tires annually. The Thailand plant has been producing passenger car and light truck tires since 2006, and tires for trucks and buses since 2005.
“The plant expansions are a strategic initiative aimed at ensuring that our product supply is in step with the market demand,” says King. “The investments are a reinforcement of Yokohama’s commitment to the consumers and our dealer network.”
For more information visit www.yokohamatire.com.
