Continental Tire the Americas LLC recently celebrated the groundbreaking of its new highly automated finished-goods warehouse during a ceremony at its Mount Vernon, Ill., tire plant.

The new warehouse is intended to strengthen the tiremaker's U.S. distribution capabilities, enhance customer service and improve logistics. Once completed, the facility will provide storage capacity for approximately 500,000 passenger car tires and will cover an area larger than six American football fields, said Continental officials.

The construction of the facility will be a $76 million investment and is expected to begin operations in 2027.

“Today’s groundbreaking reflects Continental’s continued commitment to Mount Vernon and our employees," said Nik Pearce, plant manager of Continental’s Mount Vernon plant. "This new warehouse will enhance our operational capabilities, improve logistics efficiency and support the long-term growth of our business in North America. We are proud to celebrate this important milestone and excited to begin the next chapter for our site.”

The investment is also part of Continental's broader strategy of "advancing automation and digitalization across its manufacturing and logistics operations," as well as being able to serve customers more efficiently.

“Our new highly automated finished-goods warehouse underscores our growth ambitions in North America," said Tansu Işık, CEO of Continental Tire the Americas LLC. "The new facility will enhance our ability to serve customers with greater speed and flexibility while strengthening our overall distribution network in the region.”

Işık recently spoke with MTD during a mid-year interview about how the company continues to grow its U.S. market performance, expand manufacturing efforts and navigate uncertain economic and supply chain volatility.

Continental acquired the Mount Vernon site in 1987, and the facility is now its largest U.S. tire plant. The 320,000-square-meter building produces tires for passenger cars, light trucks and commercial vehicles. The facility manufactures 11.4 million tires per year and employs over 3,500 people, said Continental officials.

According to MTD's 2026 Facts Issue, Continental's Mount Vernon plant has the capacity to build 30,000 passenger tires, 4,000 light truck tires and 10,300 truck tires per day.