Cooper to Free Up Domestic Capacity with China Imports

According to reports, Cooper Tire expects to receive around 2.5 million tyres from its Cooper Chengshan Tire facility in China during 2008. The total phase one capacity of the plant is 6.5 million units, and Cooper is planning an expansion of over two million tyres.

This China output will not only reduce Cooper’s overall production costs; the company’s will also benefit from expanded domestic production capacity; at present more than one million tyres Cooper sells in the US are sourced from China. At present the tyremaker is striving to increase capacity in order to meet an ever-increasing demand for high performance and UHP replacement market tyres. In this segment the company plans to launch a premium highway tread tyre for SUV vehicles later this year.