First TBR tyre produced by Cooper, Sailun Vietnam JV

The joint venture between Cooper Tire & Rubber Company and Sailun Vietnam Co, Ltd has produced its first tyre at the ACTR facility, located near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Cooper owns 35 per cent of ACTR, which will produce truck and bus radial (TBR) tires for global markets. The ceremonial first tyre was the centrepiece of a special event held at the facility on 18 November to celebrate construction of the plant.

The plant is expected to be operational and producing tyres on a commercial level by early 2020. At full capacity, production is expected to be approximately 2 million tyres annually.

“Cooperation between Cooper and Sailun has been outstanding, and we thank our partner Sailun for working so closely with us over the past several months to construct this facility,” said Brad Hughes, Cooper president & chief executive officer. “This is another important step in Cooper’s strategy to expand and diversify our TBR production globally, giving us additional capacity to supply quality Roadmaster TBR tyres to customers worldwide.”

Zhongxue Yuan, chairman and president of Sailun Group Co Ltd, said, “ACTR is a highly modern tire production facility with the latest technologies to drive quality and efficiency. We thank Cooper and all of those involved in the construction of the facility for their excellent support and cooperation. We look forward to many years of successful operation together with Cooper at ACTR.”