Toyo Postponing Medium-Term Business Plan Expansions

Officials from Toyo Tire & Rubber have said the company is postponing plans to build a new tyre factory in Asia and expand its tyre output in the US. This decision has been taken in light of lower vehicle sales and the global economic slowdown, and the company has not stated when, or if, these projects will now take place.

The company’s Medium-Term Business Plan, released in May, indicated the company would invest around 24 billion yen (£167.5 million) on the new passenger car tyre factory, which was at the time slated to be ready for production during the 2010 fiscal year. The company’s US plans, the third phase of its capacity expansion programme, was to see output increase by 2.4 million units and 3.2 million units in fiscal years 2010 and 2011, respectively.