Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. plans to open a second plant in the United States within the next decade, Takashi Sugimoto, Yokohama director and senior managing officer and president of the company's Tire Group, has told moderntiredealer.com.
Sugimoto disclosed the plans to moderntiredealer.com at the grand opening of Yokohama's medium truck tire plant in Thailand last Friday.
Yokohama's other U.S. plant is in Salem, Va. The Salem plant produces more than 23,000 passenger and light truck tires a day at full capacity, according to Modern Tire Dealer statistics.
(Yokohama also has a joint venture plant with Continental AG and Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. in Mount Vernon, Ill., that can manufacture 920 medium truck tire units per day at full bore.)
Also at the plant opening, Sugimoto revealed that Yokohama will invest $600 million (U.S.) in the Thai production facility within the next four years.
Yokohama plans to build a passenger/light truck tire factory next to the truck tire plant, which is located nearly three hours from Bangkok.
