WAKEFIELD, Mass. — Yokohama Off-Highway Tires America Inc. wants to set the record straight: There was no fire at its plant in Hadera, Israel.
The tire maker said a news agency in Yemen erroneously reported that its Madera plant had caught fire.
Anil Gupta, COO of Yokohama Off-Highway Tires (YOHT), reported that the tire maker's plants "in Japan, India and Israel are fully functional and running well, and there was no fire as was reported, in Hadera.d"
The subsidiary's president, David Gereghty, said the company regrets "any concern or inconvenience the unverified report has caused our customers and partners around the world."
"We are glad to report that our manufacturing teams are operating as usual."
YOHT operates four manufacturing plants in India and Israel.
The tire maker said it manufactures more than 4,000 SKUs for agriculture, construction, mining, industrial, material handling, forestry and other off-highway applications, and its products are sold in more than 120 countries.
Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. soon expects to double its off-highway tire business. The company struck a deal to buy Trelleborg Wheel Systems for $2.3 billion last March.
The sale was expected to close by year-end 2022, but it has been delayed for up to six months, as the companies seek regulatory approval in several countries.
Trelleborg has 10 tire plants in seven countries on three continents — China, Czech Republic, India, Italy, Serbia, Sri Lanka and the U.S. — and four wheel plants in four nations.
YOHT accounted for $977 million in sales last year and is a unit YRC sees as a "future growth driver."
