Toyo Announces Tire Production in the United States

Toyo Tire & Rubber Co Ltd has announced its decision to build a new manufacturing plant in the United States for the production of passenger car and light truck tyres.

Producing Toyo tyres at a U.S.-based facility will more fully enable us to serve our customers in North America, said Yoshio Kataoka, president and CEO Toyo. The greatest demand is in the North American market, and it is expected to increase.

The new plant will be located at a site chosen from among several candidates in the eastern-half of the United States, with start-up scheduled for early 2006. A total of 150 million dollars will be invested in the facility, which is slated for annual production of approximately two million passenger car and light truck tyres. Once the plant becomes operational, it will initially employ approximately 350 workers.

This announcement ties in with recent news from Bartow County, Georgia, where an unspecified tyre manufacturer has been given planning consent for a facility.