Yokohama is considering switching some of its existing tyre production from an undisclosed location to North America. In a mid-year company/industry report released by Yokohama Tire Corporation, senior vice-president Dan King stated: “We’re always looking at matching our supply and demand, and that means evaluating capacity increases and allocation changes. We’re looking at all those possibilities, including pulling allocation from one area of the world and bringing it to North America.” King commented that further consumer capacity increases are still under evaluation at Yokohama, and a new US plant may result from this. He did not specify what sort of tyres would be produced in a new North American plant, however the senior vice-president noted that despite higher production costs in the US, the company would have the advantage of being close to the market and be able to service its accounts in a “more efficient” way. “It’s a balancing act between costs and benefits, but our plan is to constantly evaluate building new plants for the future,” said King.