Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. recently established operations in Thailand and Brazil.
In April, Yokohama Asia Co. Ltd. began a commercial operation in Bangkok, Thailand. Capitalized at approximately 30 million yen, the new company will become the marketing and technical service base for replacement tires in the Asian countries. It also will control purchasing functions of Yokohama Rubber Group manufacturing and sales companies in not only Thailand but also the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.
(In the past, Yokohama Rubber's purchasing department directly controlled raw material purchasing at these manufacturing and sales bases.)
Also in April, Yokohama and its Yokohama Europe GmbH subsidiary established Yokohama Rubber Latin America Comercio Ltda. in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The $600,000 investment was made "to stimulate further sales growth and bolster marketing activities focusing on high-performance passenger car tires." In a related move, the company closed its representative office in Panama.
