When Continental Tire the Americas LLC is done with the three-year, $224 million expansion plan it announced on Thursday, May 12, the plant will have the capacity to produce 14 million consumer tires annually.
(See "Continental to expand production at Illinois plant.")
The investment would not have been possible without the support of the state of Illinois and Governor Pat Quinn, according to CEO Matthias Schoenberg. Illinois offered the company a $22 million, performance incentives package to create 444 "well-paying jobs with excellent benefits for the people in southern Illinois."
In the last five years, Continental Tire the Americas has invested $486 million in the plant. The Mount Vernon plant is Continental AG's largest tire plant in the world.
Employment at the plant has grown by about 400 jobs since 2006, bringing the current plant employment to more than 2,500. The additional 444 new full-time jobs will bring total plant employment to nearly 3,000 in the next three years
"Continental Tire the Americas is experiencing significant growth and demand for its tires throughout the region," said Schoenberg. "Adding production capacity to meet this demand was essential."
In March 2011, Continental Tire the Americas announced a $210 million investment to expand production capacity at its tire plant located in Camacari, Bahia, Brazil. The investment will create 400 new jobs and double capacity in the plant.
In April 2011, the company announced that funding was approved for a greenfield tire plant in North America -- another major element of Continental's comprehensive growth strategy in the Americas.
"While we don't have any details to share at this time regarding the potential new plant in North America, we hope to have an announcement to make later this year," Schoenberg said.
