Kumho announces plans for major US tyre factory

Kumho has signed an agreement to build a 500,000 sq m tyre factory in Bibb County, Georgia, United States. The construction will commence in the first half of this year and is scheduled to finish in 2009. The investment of $165 million will allow the production of some 2.1 million passenger car tyres per annum for the US OE and aftermarkets.

The new Automated Production Unit (APU) will provide the company with a local manufacturing base in the world’s largest single tyre market, complementing those in China and Vietnam. It is expected to dramatically reduce Kumho’s distribution costs, while increasing its share of this lucrative market. The APU will be capable of manufacturing ultra-high performance tyres and the products will be supplied to replacement market customers throughout the US and to key OEMs including Hyundai and Kia, and subsequently Ford, GM and Chrysler.

Kumho is enjoying continuous global expansion and the new US plant will bring it one step closer to its aim of being the world’s fifth largest tyre producer by 2015, by when it expects to be manufacturing a total of 77 million tyres per annum.

For further information about Kumho, log onto kumhotyre.co.uk.