Cooper Tire and Sailun Vietnam Make First Tire at Joint Venture Plant

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. and Sailun Vietnam Co., Ltd. Made their first tire at their joint venture plant in Vietnam. The tire came off the production line at ACTR, their new joint venture (JV) facility which is close to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Cooper has a 35 percent stake in the plant which is meant to specialize in the production of truck and bus radial (TBR) tires for global markets.

The production of the first tire at the facility was marked with a special event that was held November 18. The two companies expect the factory to be fully operational on a commercial basis by early 2020. When it attains its full capacity, the plant is expected to produce about 2 million tires on an annual basis.

Commenting on the partnership between the two companies, Brad Hughes, Cooper president and CEO said that the level of cooperation between Cooper and Sailun has been outstanding. He went on to thank Sailun for working closely with Cooper over the past several months for the construction of the factory. He said the new factory marked another significant step in Cooper’s strategy to expand and diversify its TBR production globally, thus giving the tire manufacturer additional capacity to supply quality Roadmaster TBR tires to its customers across the globe.

Zhongxue Yuan, chairman and president of Sailun Group Co. Ltd., added, “ACTR is a highly modern tire production facility with the latest technologies to drive quality and efficiency. We thank Cooper and all of those involved in the construction of the facility for their excellent support and cooperation. We look forward to many years of successful operation together with Cooper at ACTR.”