Here's a look at other investments, listed alphabetically by company:
Aeolus Tyre Co. Ltd. is investing $200 million to upgrade its Jiaozuo City, China, manufacturing complex, a project that will at the same time boost capacity for giant OTR tires by 20,000 units annually.
Bridgestone Corp. disclosed $467 million in specific expansion/modernization initiatives, the largest of which is a $224 million, six-year project at its 48-year-old Burgos, Spain, tire plant to shift capacity toward higher-value, larger-rim-diameter passenger and van tires. The investment is designed to increase capacity for larger car tires (those of 18-inch rim diameter and larger) by 75% to over 7 million units a year by 2030, Bridgestone said, while capacity for smaller-rim-diameter tires will be phased out.
Bridgestone plans to invest $166 million at its Kitakyushu, Japan, earthmoving tire plant over the coming three-and-a-half years to upgrade manufacturing. Bridgestone did not elaborate on what impact the investment might have on the 15-year-old plant's capacity, which is listed as 170 metric tons a day, or on employment, which stands at 575.
Bridgestone said it expects to complete the upgrade by year-end 2027, delivering "value over volume" as it strengthens its OTR tire business, a core part of the company's 2024-26 business plan.
The company also is investing $77 million over three years at multiple locations in China, including a $26 million investment at the Wuxi production plant.
CEAT Tyres Ltd. is committing $90 million toward capacity expansions, foremost among them is a project to boost truck/bus tire capacity at its Chenna, India, plant by 1,500 units a day. Also on tap is a project to increase capacity for agricultural tires at a plant in Ambernath.
Continental A.G. is expanding capacity for passenger tires at its factory in Rayong, Thailand, in response to "growing demand for premium tires" in the region and elsewhere, including North America.
Conti did not offer many details but said the expansion would add over 350,000 square feet to the factory and 900 jobs. The 5-year-old factory has a nameplate capacity of 4 million units annually.
According to the tire maker, the project is in response to "growing demand for premium tires in Thailand, as well as in the Asia Pacific and Americas regions."
Continental also is upgrading and expanding its specialty tires factory in Sri Lanka with a $14 million, three-year investment project. The bulk of the investment will be used to enhance the "local pre-production capacities" at the plant in Kalatura in order to make the facility more self-sufficient, Conti said.
Enso Tyres Ltd. plans to invest $500 million to build what it is calling the world's first carbon-neutral manufacturing plant for electric vehicle (EV) tires in the U.S. The British engineering startup is focused on ultra-low-rolling-resistance tire development, and said it is considering several locations, including Colorado, Texas and Georgia, as well as other states. Production of up to 5 million passenger tires a year designed for EVs is expected to start by 2027.
Goodyear is committing $575 million to upgrade and expand its passenger tire plant in Napanee, Ontario, to provide additional capacity for original equipment and replacement all-terrain tires, as well as products designed specially for EVs. The expansion was made by Goodyear Canada Inc. and Invest Ontario, a provincial agency that seeks investment opportunities to drive Ontario's economic growth.
Guizhou Tyre Co. Ltd. is budgeting $227 million to build an "intelligent" passenger tire plant in Vietnam, at the Long Jiang Industrial Park, in Vietnam's Tien Giang Province. The factory will be rated at 6 million car tires per year at full capacity. Start-up is expected within two years with ramp-up to full capacity anticipated over four years.
The move follows Guizhou Tyre's completion of the first phase of a truck/bus tire facility at the same location, with an annual capacity to produce 1.2 million units of tires.
Hankook Tire & Technology Co. Ltd. revived plans to add capacity for truck and bus tires at its factory in Racalmas, Hungary, with a $590 million, three-year investment project. Hankook plans to add capacity totaling 800,000 TBR units a year at the 16-year-old Racalmas factory. The new capacity will create up to 450 jobs at full capacity, which should be reached during 2027-28, Hankook said. Operational since 2007, the Racalmas plant has a rated capacity of 17.2 million passenger tires per year.
Hankook also halved a global investment plan announced in February to $370 million due to "changes in business environment."
In a stock exchange filing, the Seoul-based tire maker said the revision covered previously announced investments at its production facilities in South Korea and the U.S.
Jiangsu General Science Technology Co. Ltd. (JGST) has budgeted nearly $500 million for two expansion projects:
- $275 million to double the capacity for high-performance radials at its 4-year-old plant in Rayong, Thailand, a project that will add 500,000 radial truck/bus and 6 million passenger tires to the annual capacity.
- $212 million to increase annual capacity over an 18-month period at its plant in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, for radial car and all-steel truck/bus tires by 3.5 million and 750,000 units, respectively. The plant opened in May 2023 with a nameplate capacity of 5 million passenger and 900,000 truck/bus tires.
JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. is committing nearly $168 million toward capacity expansions over the next two years, including $120 million to expand capacity for passenger tires by over 30% and $48 million toward ramping up the output of off-road and radial truck/bus. The project is focused principally at JK's plant in Banmore.
Iris Tyres plans to double passenger tire capacity at its plant in Setif, Algieria, to 4 million units per year, while also adding capacity for the production of 800,000 truck/bus tires a year. The TBR facility is scheduled for start-up in December, with commercial production set for the first quarter of 2025, the Algerian tire maker said, without disclosing the investment sum.
Group Michelin budgeted $85 million for a modernization and expansion project at its Troyes, France, farm tire factory, including the installation of a new generation of tire-building equipment for agricultural tires — dubbed Cosmos — that it claims is more efficient and ergonomic than current-generation machinery.
Michelin also plans to realign its manufacturing base for truck tires and related semi-finished products, including the conversion of plants in Olsztyn, Poland, and Shenyang, China, to passenger tire production and the closing of metal reinforcement operations at the Shanghai, China, facility.
Nova Motorsports is investing $22 million at the recently acquired CNB/Camac tire factory in Palmeira, Portugal, in a project that includes incorporating motorsport tire capacity from the former Cooper Tire plant in Melksham, England. The Camac plant boasts a production capacity of over 500,000 tires annually.
Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. has agreed to be part of a joint-venture with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) to build a tire plant in the Persian Gulf state in a project valued at $550 million and with a projected annual capacity of 3.5 million tires, starting in 2026. The PIF will hold a 75% stake in the venture, with Pirelli holding the remaining 25% and acting as strategic technology partner.
Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. has budgeted $193 million for the second phase of a plant it's building near Tangier, Morocco. Last summer, Sentury started construction on Phase l of the $297 million project. Once both phases are completed, the company will have invested $490 million in the factory, which will have the capacity to produce 12 million tires per year.
Rolling Plus Chemical Industries Co., a new business unit of Egypt's Concrete Plus construction enterprise, has disclosed plans to invest up to $1 billion in a tire factory in Egypt's Suez Canal Economic Zone. The investors envision a factory capable of manufacturing up to 7 million tires a year, covering passenger, light truck and heavy truck. The first phase of the project would cost around $450 million and produce an initial annual capacity of 2.5 million passenger tires, which is about half of Egypt's domestic demand.
Sailun Group Co. Ltd. is committing over $750 million for a pair of capacity expansions and a greenfield factory in Mexico:
- Sailun broke ground May 16 on a $240 million factory in Guanajuato, Mexico, a move the China-based company said underscores its commitment to the North American market. Upon completion, the factory will have capacity for about 6 million tires annually. Ultimately, Sailun expects to expand capacity by as much as 1.8 million units. Sailun is building the plant in a 51/49 joint-venture with Mexico's TD International Holding S.A.P.I. de C.V.
- Sailun has budgeted $250 million for a multi-product tire factory in Demak City, Central Java province, Indonesia. The new facility will have an annual capacity of 3 million passenger tires, 600,000 truck and bus radial tires, and 37,000 metric tons of off-highway tires.
- In Cambodia, Sailun plans to spend $311 million to double the scale of an expansion announced less than four months ago at its 2-year-old Svay Rieng plant, in large part to enhance its supply options for the U.S. Capacity will be boosted 12 million units a year, or double the increase Sailun proposed in October 2023. Once completed, the production capacity for passenger would rise to 21 million units per year, in addition to 1.65 million truck and bus all-steel radial tires.
Shandong Haohua Tire Group is planning to build a passenger and truck tire plant in Vietnam near Binh Phuoc Province, valued at $500 million and rated at 12 million passenger and 2.4 million truck/bus tires. The plant, projected to start production by the third quarter of 2025, represents as many as 1,600 local jobs and 200 "foreign jobs," the authorities said, and could generate as much as $770 million in revenue annually.
Shouguang Firemax Tyre Co. Ltd. plans to invest $190 million to build a factory in Cambodia, its first outside of China. The project is slated to have a capacity of 8 million passenger tires and 1.2 million truck/bus tires once completed.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. plans to expand the capacity of its 50-year-old Ladysmith factory with an investment valued at $88.7 million over the coming five years. SRI said the expansion is tied to rising demand from vehicle makers for original equipment tires, especially for Dunlop-brand products. SRI did not quantify the scale of the expansion; capacity is listed at 1.7 million metric tons per year.
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. is committing nearly $750 million toward a pair of new factories — including one in Mexico — and capacity upgrades at two other plants:
- $380 million for a passenger and light truck tire plant, to be built on a 150-acre site at the Alianza Industrial Park in Saltillo, Coahuila. It's due on stream in 2027 with a rated capacity of 5 million tires a year.
- $62.5 million to upgrade and expand passenger tire capacity at its 26-year-old plant in the Philippines with a $62.5 million investment over the coming two years. Capacity at the plant — a key production site for North America — will increase nearly 6% to 32,500 units a day, including for the first time tires with 21- and 22-inch rim diameters.
- $269 million to relocate a 20-year-old passenger tire plant in Hangzhou, China, to a greenfield site in the same city due to urban sprawl in Hangzhou. The facility is expected to start production in the second quarter of 2025 with an initial annual capacity of 9 million tires, with further expansion to be considered in the future.
- $24 million over two years to expand capacity 35% for motorsports tires at its plant in Mishima City, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan. The project will add capacity for 18-inch and larger motorsports tires.
Zafco Group Holdings Ltd., the Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based tire distributor, is considering building a tire plant in Pakistan to support growing local demand. The proposed project, for a factory rated at 1.4 million passenger and light truck tires a year, is valued at $92 million. The proposed plant would be located on a 50-acres site on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, IFC documents show, and would operate under the name Armstrong ZE (Pvt.) Ltd.
Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd. is budgeting upwards of $1.2 billion for three new factories:
- $500 million for a tire factory in Mexico, at a site near Saltillo in northeastern Mexico about 150 miles from the U.S. border. The plant will have an annual capacity of 13.5 million radial passenger tires and 50,000 metric tons of off-the-road products, according to ZC Rubber.
- $695 million toward a passenger tire plant in Jintan, Jiangsu Province, China, that will involve building a "high-performance, green 5G digital new energy tire production base," with a projected annual capacity of 25 million tires a year.
- The company also has broken ground on a passenger tire plant in Semarang, Indonesia, which is expected to be completed by early 2025. Production at the facility will "address the local demand for high quality tires across everyday consumer applications and logistical needs." The investment sum was not disclosed.
