50% production capacity boost for Pirelli’s tyre plant in Romania

Pirelli has now made tyres in Romania for a decade, and during a ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of the start of production in Slatina, the company announced plans to further invest in the site. Around €200 million will be invested in the Slatina plant through to 2021; as a result, annual production capacity will reach 15 million tyres, 5 million more than the current level. Some 500 new jobs will be created through the investment.

The anniversary celebration was attended by senior Romanian officials, including Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș, Finance Minister Anca Dana Dragu and Minister for Labor Dragos Pîslaru. The dignitaries were received by Pirelli executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer, Marco Tronchetti Provera, together with Romania Giuliano Menassi, chief executive officer of Pirelli Tyres Romania (and the Group’s head of Research and Development).

“For me, as the Prime Minister of Romania, this is a very important investment especially because it creates jobs and highly qualified work force,” said Dacian Ciolos. “Pirelli also has a few hundred local suppliers, Romanian companies that are further developing together with Pirelli. In the near future, it is important to attract foreign direct investments, but also to anchor them in Romania so that they bring new investment in R&D and innovation in order to create opportunities for local communities and partners.”

“Over this decade, Pirelli has never stopped growing,” added Marco Tronchetti Provera. “This is not only because of the strategic location of the Slatina plant, which for Pirelli represents a key logistics and commercial hub for all of Eastern Europe, but also because of the ability to attract and support international investments demonstrated by the country’s institutions, which sees Italy as its second commercial partner and one of the most important in terms of investments.”

According to Pirelli, the additional investments planned between now and the end of 2021 will allow a further improvement of its industrial competitiveness at the European level. Floor space within the Slatina plant will grow from 210,000 square metres to 260,000 square metres, and the changes to be implemented will affect both passenger car tyre output and the production area dedicated to motorsport, which includes a Formula One tyre production unit that serves as a back-up for the main Pirelli F1 plant in Turkey.

The Pirelli Group entered Romania in 2004 when it established Pirelli Tyres Romania. Construction of the greenfield tyre plant in Slatina began the following year and tyres were first produced there in 2006. By the time the newly-announced project has been implemented, Pirelli will have invested a total of €740 million in the facility. The industrial presence in Romania is accompanied by Pirelli’s involvement in a number of research projects with the Universities of Bucharest and Craiova, and its commitment to many social and cultural activities. These include a project for promoting Italian culture in Slatina and, in collaboration with Italian football club Inter Milan, the Intercampus project dedicated the children of the city, as well as a partnership between Milan’s Niguarda Hospital and that of Slatina.