Italian bicycle tyre maker Vittoria Group says it is constructing a new factory in Thailand. The US$20 million investment will see its local subsidiary Lion Tyres Thailand (LTT)’s factory premises grow from 36.000 to 52.000 sq m in the Bangpoo industrial district, near the current LTT headquarters. The plant will employ circa 400 people in working spaces. Operations will start within the end of 2022 and the new facilities will allow Vittoria Group to double the total output capacity of tyres over the coming years.
The greenfield plant is designed with sustainability in mind. Use of solar panels, intelligent climate control, bio & recycled materials and electrical curing will make it the first carbon-neutral factory in the bicycle tyre industry. The new facility will be dedicated to the production of premium bicycle tyres, used by professional and amateur cyclist around the world, it adds.
The 16.000-sq-m building will also host product testing and research facilities for the continuous development of technologies.
The land for the new facility was recently inaugurated in the presence of senior managers of LTT, local authorities, representatives of Thai and Italian industry and the Italian Ambassador Lorenzo Galanti.
The relationship between Vittoria Group and Thailand has built up since the opening of the first factory in Bangkok in 1988 under the name of Lion Tyres Thailand (LTT). The current operations are spread over five buildings in Bangkok and Rayong, including the graphene compound R&D facility and the 4C extruder able to merge four compounds in one single bicycle tyre tread.