COSTA MESA, Calif. — Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. entered the year armed with more capacity thanks to a new plant in Serbia, and in January, unveiled its newest product, the Celsius II all-weather touring tire.
Toyo said demand has remained strong across its passenger, light truck and truck/bus tire lines, though expectations have settled a bit in the last year as the market returns to pre-pandemic growth.
"Demand during the pandemic never stopped. Our share in light truck, passenger tire and TBR rose beyond pre-pandemic levels," Tim Chaney, vice president of marketing at Toyo Tire U.S.A., said.
The logistical challenges of the pandemic have eased, and Toyo said it has been able to find a good supply "pace" as shipments from Asia have become more reliable.
"(In 2022), the business was going really strongly and supply was somewhat restricted, but we held our position with most of our key dealers pretty well, and they stayed with us," Michael Graber, president and CEO at Toyo U.S.A., said.
"The consumer demand has remained high, so the pull-through demand from the distributors has been good.
"Demand is there and (our) capacity is growing, and we're really excited about 2023 and beyond," Graber said.
Tire Business sat down with Graber and Chaney at the SEMA Show in November to talk about the future.