Late 2014 production start for Pirelli JV plant now expected

Work on the Indonesian joint venture motorcycle factory part owned by Pirelli is underway following the recent groundbreaking ceremony in Subang, West Java. The Italian tyre maker is 60 per cent shareholder in the PT Evoluzione Tyres (Evoty) joint venture, with Indonesia’s PT Astra Otoparts Tbk holding the remaining 40 per cent.

Presiding over the groundbreaking ceremony in Desa Wanakerta was Paolo Benea, president director of Evonty, and head of Purwadadi sub-district of Subang, Rahmat Ependy.

Construction work on the new plant was originally expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2012 and begin operation in the second half of 2013. The current work schedule is for the plant to start production by the end of 2014. Total investment will be Rp 1.3 trillion (£78.4 million).

The Evoty factory will produce cross-ply motorcycle tyres and will initially produce 2 million tyres per annum, later increasing to 7 million tyres. Astra Otoparts will distribute 40 per cent of output on the domestic market and the rest will be exported. Pirelli has previously stated that when the Evoty factory reaches full production, 3 million tyres a year or around 43 per cent of output will be sold as Astra brands while the remaining 4 million – an amount equal to around a quarter of Pirelli’s global moto production – will be produced under the Pirelli or Metzeler brand names. Pirelli intends to sell 20 to 25 per cent of the Pirelli brand production in the Asia Pacific original equipment and replacement markets and sell the remainder in all other markets apart from South America. 

While the Evoty joint venture factory is Pirelli’s fourth motorcycle tyre plant – the company also produces motorcycle tyres in Germany (Breuberg, which has produced moto tyres using MIRS since 2003), Brazil (Gravatai, which opened in 1976) and China (Yanzhou, where motorcycle radial production began in 2012) – the facility is Astra’s first tyre factory. The tyres it currently sells in Indonesia under the Aspira brand name are produced by third-party manufacturers.  

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