Japanese firm Yokohama Tire Corp. (YTC) has officially opened its new tyre R&D facility – the Yokohama Development Centre America (YDCA) – in Cornelius, North Carolina. The 25,000-sq-ft building in Mecklenburg County, replaces the temporary R&D office Yokohama had utilised in Concord, North Carolina, since 2016.
“In 1969 – almost 50 years ago – Yokohama entered the US market and since then our name has been associated with quality, technology and innovation,” said Shinichi Takimoto, President/CEO of Yokohama Tire Corporation of North America (YCNA), and Chairman/CEO of YTC. “This will continue with YDCA, which represents another major milestone for Yokohama in the US.”
“The opening of YDCA is another example of our continued investment in North America,” said Tetsuya Kuze, Executive Vice-President of YCNA. “We are committed to developing new products for this market across multiple segments.”
The Cornelius facility will consolidate separate R&D staff currently operating at a number of locations throughout the US and will be led by Shoichiro (Sho) Matsuda, YCNA vice president of corporate technical. “Our primary focus here will be tYre development,” said Matsuda. “We will also support other technical groups such as quality assurance and technical services.”
The US facility is Yokohama’s largest overseas R&D centre in terms of its function and number of employees.