Prometeon Tyre Group, the maker of Pirelli-brand truck, bus, farm and off-the-road tires, is updating the technology and dramatically expanding its production capacity in Turkey.
Prometeon will invest nearly 580 million Turkish Iira ($115 million) in the plant in Izmit. Capacity will increase 75% by 2020, and Prometeon says exports to foreign markets will nearly double.
“Turkey is the premium factory for Europe - both as OE premium and replacement," says Gregorio Borgo, chief operating officer for Prometeon. "This new investment will increase the production capacity to follow the future growth trend of the regions Europe and MEA”
“Prometeon Turkey is an important production, management and talent center within the group. Turkey is the management base of 75 countries in the MEA, Russia, CIS region which is one of our four main regions in the world. Almost one-third of Prometeon Tyre Group’s annual turnover is realized in the region managed by our Turkey office and more than 50% of the tyres that we manufacture in Turkey are exported."
Alp Günvaran, CEO of the Turkey, MEA, Russia, CIS Region, says, “Our Izmit factory has been conducting its activities and breaking new ground since it was established in 1960, and the plant, which manufactured the first tire in Turkey, continues to be an engineering force and to make a significant contribution to exports from Turkey with its current annual capacity of almost 1 million units.
"We will further strengthen the position of Turkey as one of the largest suppliers of Europe in the industrial tire group. The factory is one of our four production facilities in the world and continues to add value to the tire industry on a global scale, as it is the first plant in Turkey to have received an R&D certificate issued by the Turkish government."
Prometeon says the expansion will result in the addition of 150 direct hires, plus 750 indirect positions.
The Izmit plant also houses a Prometeon research and development center, which the company says has tested 7,000 tires a year for the Turkish market and other related countries in its 10-plus years of operation.
