Continental distributes first Clinton, Mississippi-made truck tyres

The first truck tyres made at Continental’s greenfield factory in Clinton, Mississippi, US are being delivered four years after the company broke ground on the project. The Clinton plant is Continental’s first new plant for the truck tyre business globally in more than 10 years. It produces large truck and bus tyres for the North American market and will employ 500 people by the end of 2020. Clinton is Continental’s second location producing truck tyres in the US. The other can be found in Mount Vernon, Illinois. According to the Continental, more than 280 employees collaborated safely to deliver the first shipment of tyres.

“Continental is proud to deliver the first tyre shipment from the Clinton plant,” said Tom Fanning, Continental’s US market manager for truck and bus tyres in a statement published on 30 October 2020, adding: “This plant will produce 750,000 tyres annually, enhancing our ability to service the North American market and deliver tires faster to our customers.”

“This is another great milestone for the Continental plant in Mississippi. Our goal is to be a reliable partner and supplier. By living our core values ‘passion to win’ and ‘for one another,’ we can achieve both,” said Michael Egner, Clinton plant manager.

Continental reports that it has seen customer demand for commercial vehicle tyres growing globally in the past decade, both in new truck and bus tyres, as well as tyre retreads. This growth led the company to establish further production capacity in the US.

“Continental takes an ‘in the market, for the market’ approach to sales and manufacturing,” said Fanning. “We are excited to continue moving forward, and we rely on our dealer partners to deliver the Continental promise to fleet customers, helping them achieve their Lowest Overall Driving Cost across the nation.”

Continental is currently one of the five largest brands in medium/heavy truck tyres in the US by market share.