Toyo Tire Corp. will build its first tire manufacturing plant in Europe. The company's board of directors also passed a resolution to establish a European tire production subsidiary.
The decisons were made "in order to ramp up production capacity of radial tires for passenger vehicles and light trucks." Toyo will invest nearly 49 billion yen, or close to $450 million, in the plant.
"Toyo Tire intends to continuously strengthen its business platform by producing highly added value product with timely supply to the global market," said the company.
Toyo Tire said it is supplying tires for the European and Russian market from factories in Japan and Malaysia. "As of 2022, the new manufacturing base in Serbia will take on a key role in this regard."
The new 150-acre facility will operate as "a sophisticated smart factory," with the goal of achieving high quality at low cost. It will produce "differentiated and highly added value products for luxury passenger vehicles and light trucks within and outside the European market." Toyo estimates the number of employees will be close to 500.
Construction of the plant will begin in Indijia City, the Republic of Serbia, in May 2020. Toyo expects production capacity to reach 5 million tires annually (based on tires for passenger vehicles) by the summer of 2023.
Toyo's European tire production subsidiary will be located in Belgrade, Serbia. It wll cost 20 billion yen, or $184 million.
When it is completed, Toyo will own or have a capital interest in 10 consumer tire manufacturing plants worldwide.
