Yokohama Begins OTR Consolidation in the U.S.

Oct. 19, 2020

Four years following the acquisition of Alliance Tire Group, Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. is consolidating its off-highway businesses into a single entity.

The new Yokohama Off-Highway Tires entity will have a global footprint with leaders distributed between Tokyo, Boston, Amsterdam and Mumbai.

The first step in the consolidation will happen in the U.S. Yokohama's off-the-road tire business in the U.S. will be combined with Alliance Tire Americas Inc. on Jan. 1, 2021. The entity will take on a new name: Yokohama Off-Highway Tires America Inc.

The American business will be based in Wakefield, Mass. — the current Alliance Tire Americas office — and Dhaval Nanavati, the current president of Alliance Tire Americas, will be president of Yokohama Off-Highway Tires America Inc.

Integration plans for the rest of the group's businesses across the globe are still being finalized and "will be communicated in the near future," Yokohama says.

Yokohama says it's current medium-term management plan includes a strategy to position "commercial tires as a pillar of growth in our second century and off-highway tires as a growth driver."

The company says this consolidation will integrate Yokohama's brand power, quality and global sales network with the growth potential, diverse product lineup and cost competitiveness of Alliance's products. Combined, the brands offer a full range of off-the-road tires, from small forklift tires to extra large radial OTR tires.