The Yokohama Rubber Company announced today that it would build a new $300 million plant to manufacture truck and bus tires in the United States. The Japanese tire maker plans an annual production capacity of 1 million tires by October 2015. Construction will begin this September at a proposed site in West Point, Mississippi subject to almost certain state approval and taxpayer subsidies.
Yokohama Rubber has sold tires in North American market through GTY Tire Company; a U.S. joint venture company specialized in manufacturing truck and bus tires, and through export from Japan and Thailand. Yokohama Rubber said it is necessary to build the new plant meet growing demand for its brand and further strengthen a system aimed at “local production for local consumption.”
The new plant will be located on a 500-acre area, and represents Phase I of Yokohama’s overall plan for the site. Potential expansions could increase the original business size up to four times, according to Yokohama.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
