Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. recently announced its plans to increase passenger car and light truck tyre production capacity in its US factory, located in Tonawanda, New York, from the current 5,000 tyre units per day to 10,000 tyre units per day by the end of 2019.
The company said the move will enhance its ability to locally produce tyres for the North American market, especially focusing on expanding local production of SUV tyres, which are in particularly high demand in North America. They aim to expand their overall tyre sales in North America by increasing the proportion of locally produced tyres and cutting sales lead time.
The group is planning to invest a total of US$87 million over the next four years on factory upgrades to achieve their goal of increasing production capacity and productivity.
They also said that the conclusion of the group’s longstanding global alliance with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in October 2015 has given the group more freedom in conducting their business in North America.
The US factory currently produces tyres for passenger cars and light trucks, trucks and buses and motorcycles. The latest round of investments will be focused on increasing the factory’s capacity to produce tyres for passenger cars and light trucks.
A partial transfer of production of tyres for the North American market from the group’s Thailand factory to the US factory has already begun.