Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has closed on the agreement announced Nov. 1, 2019 to increase ownership in its Mexico joint venture tyre manufacturing facility, Corporación de Occidente S. A. de C.V. (COOCSA), from 58-100%. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The Ohio-based company has been involved in a venture partnership at the COOCSA plant with Trabajadores Democráticos de Occidente (TRADOC), which has owned 42% of the plant since 2008.
TRADOC is a workers union formed in 2004 to own and operate the COOCSA plant. The tyre plant is around 625 miles from the Texas-Mexico border.
The COOCSA plant manufactures passenger car and light truck tyres, producing 6.5 million tyres in 2017. The plant ships the majority of its tyres to the US, with Brazil as its next largest customer.
Cooper President/CEO Brad Hughes said the deal is “part of our strategic plan to optimise Cooper’s global manufacturing footprint with cost-competitive production of quality tyres in key geographies. We are excited to continue working with the team in Mexico as we look forward to enhancing the facility’s global competitiveness in the tyre industry.”
Six other tyre companies also have factories in Mexico: Goodyear, Continental Tire, Bridgestone Corp. (two plants), Michelin, JK Tyre & Industries (three plants), and Pirelli Tire.
Mexico exported around US$1.1 billion worth of tyres from January through August 2019.
Cooper Tire began a business relationship with TRADOC in 2008, when it initially invested US$31 million for a 16% stake in the COOCSA plant. Cooper Tire then bought an additional 42% of the plant from Llanti System, which sold its stake in 2008.