Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. plans to boost the manufacturing capacity of its Hangzhou Yokohama Tire Co. Ltd. passenger tire plant in China to 4.1 million units per year.
The plant currently has a capacity of three million tires per year.
Yokohama has entered phase three of the factory's expansion, a three billion yen investment.
"Since this spring, the Chinese tire market has shown a clear sign of recovery," say Yokohama officials, who add that the Tokyo, Japan-based tiremaker has seen an increase in tire sales vs. last year.
"In addition, the number of automobiles owned in China is expected to continue increasing at an annual rate of more than 10%. Yokohama has therefore decided to make the additional investment" in the Hangzhou plant, which opened seven years ago.
