Japanese tyre company Yokohama Rubber will increase its production capacity in China for passenger car tyres to 13.6 million units a year by 2020, up nearly 50% from 9.35 million units in 2016, as it looks to boost business with local automakers.
The company operates two Chinese plants, one in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, and the other in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The former, whose production facilities have been repeatedly expanded since 2013, will get the most equipment updates. The improvements will cost 27 billion Yen (US$241 million) overall, including work that has already been started.
With the upgrades, China will become Yokohama Rubber’s largest manufacturing base outside Japan. The title currently belongs to the Philippines, where the company had a capacity of 11.9 million units last year.
In China, Yokohama Rubber’s major customers are Japanese automakers, accounting for more than 70% of its new-car tyre sales there. The Japanese manufacturer wants to increase business with Chinese players, which are gaining traction with more affordable cars and playing catch-up with foreign rivals like Volkswagen and General Motors.
Domestic automakers took a combined 58% market share for sport utility vehicles, a highly popular type in China, in 2016, according to Mizuho Bank data. China is the world’s largest new-car market, having zoomed past the US to the top spot in 2009.