Kenda announces 2013 production capacity increase plans

Kenda Rubber Industrial Co has reported its intention to increase its global production capacity for passenger car tyres by 50 per cent in 2013. The company will manufacture 38,000 units per day by the end of 2013 in order to meet rising market demand, with the increases coming in both its home market of Taiwan and in two Chinese factories. These include the Tianjin factory, which produced its first prototype tyre in May.

The planned increases comprise an additional 4,000 units per day to its capacity in Taiwan; 5,000 more units at the company’s new plant in Tianjin, China by the end of this year; and 2,500 additional daily units from its new factory in Shanghai. The tyre maker currently produces 22,500 tyres daily in its Kunshan, China, plant and 4,000 units per day in its Yunlin, Taiwan facility.

“Kenda’s new plant in Tianjin is operating on a trial basis and likely to become fully operational next month, instead of by the end of next quarter as we previously expected,” Chairman Yang Ying-ming said in a recent shareholders meeting.

Kenda Tire president Jimmy Yang told the US market of the successful production of the first prototype tyre manufactured at the Tainjin factory in May. “After years of hard work and planning, we are so excited to see our third automotive factory completed and running,” he said, “We are excited to bring the quality of a Taiwanese technology to other countries in order to produce high quality, world class tyres.”

Production will be available to customers from the factory in the third quarter of 2013. Once fully operational, the factory will produce 20,000 tyres daily, primarily for supply to the Europe, Africa, and Asia markets. The Tainjin factory is Kenda’s second factory built in the last five years and Kenda estimates that it will allow the manufacturer to produce over 50,000 automotive tyres daily once fully completed.

“Kenda might be the new kids on the block with automotive tire production, but Kenda is not new to the tyre business. Kenda factories produce over 700,000 tyres and tubes for other industries every day and we believe our experience in tyre manufacturing allows us to produce high quality tyres for all industries we sell in,” explained Yang.