Sumitomo invests to boost US, Thai, and Japanese plants tyre production for North American market

Sumitomo invests to boost US, Thai, and Japanese plants tyre production for North American market

Sumitomo Rubber Industries is increasing production capacity for passenger car tyres and light truck tyres at its US factory located in Tonawanda, New York, to meet rising demand and strong sales of its high-performance tyres for SUVs and light trucks in the North American market. With a planned investment of US$96 million, the factory’s daily maximum output in these tyre categories will increase from the current 6,500 tyres/day to 12,000 tyres/day by the end of 2023.

At the same time, in response to increasing sales of truck and bus tyres in North America, an investment of US$26 million will be allotted to increase production capacity in these categories at the US plant, from the current 1,750 tyres/day to 2,300 tyres/day by end of 2024.

The tyre maker is also investing a total of JPY 10.8 billion in updating production equipment at its factories in Thailand and Miyazaki (Japan) in order to shift toward increased overall production of tires for SUVs and light trucks. With this shift, these two factories are expected to increase sales of SUV and light truck tyres in North America by producing 4,150 of these tyres/day by the end of 2023 (Thailand) and 1,600 of these tyres/day by the end of 2024 (Miyazaki).