Citing to increasing demand for its car and light truck
tires, Yokohama is expanding operations at its Salem, Va.
manufacturing plant.
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.”
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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.
