Yokohama to construct car tyre plant in India

Following a hiatus of several years, Yokohama Rubber has reactivated plans to erect a passenger car tyre factory in India. Announcing the go-ahead of construction on 28 March, the Japanese tyre maker said the new plant is scheduled to enter service in July 2014 and will have a first phase annual capacity of 700,000 tyres. Total investment in the factory in Haryana state, some 40 kilometres west of Delhi, will be approximately 4.4 billion yen (£33.2 million). Preparations for the plant began four years ago; in April 2008, Yokohama Rubber signed a contract with the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation to acquire a 25 acre site, however plant construction was postponed due to the recession.

The new plant will be operated by Yokohama India Pvt. Ltd., which was established in April 2007 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yokohama Rubber. Since July 2007, Yokohama India has sold replacement market passenger car tyres through its own sales network. While it currently imports tyres to satisfy Indian market demand, Yokohama plans in future to do so with output from its new plant; the tyre maker comments that new car sales reached three million units last year and are expected to exceed seven million by 2020, and the domestic tyre market is also expected to grow steadily.