Titan to make aggressive moves in OTR segment

April 27, 2007

"Our plan is to radialize 51-inch OTR tires and down," Titan International Inc. Chairman and CEO Morry Taylor told investors earlier today, April 27, during a conference call.

Taylor also told investors that Titan "has all the molds and mixing capacity and everything else" to manufacture larger tires in the 57- and 63-inch range. "We have the capacity to produce that rubber today." (Last week, Titan announced that it is investigating the feasibility of building tires in those sizes.)

"It will cost us close to $100 million" to make the 57- and 63-inch tires. "It will be a full-court press. Our belief is if you build 6,000 of these tires, you're taking care of the (on-going OTR) shortage.

"We'd like to see $200 million of (customer) commitment." If that happens, "we'll know that we will get our investment back," according to Taylor. "The OTR business is a hell of a lot bigger than the farm tire business."