Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. has inaugurated production at its passenger tyre plant in Changsha, two years after announcing the $297 million project. The new plant, covering 550,000 square meterss designed with a production capacity at 30,000 tires per day. The first and second phase, to be finished in 2014 and 2017, expects to produce 15,000 and 30,000 tires per day, respectively.