Toyo Tire Reveals Plans to Set up First Research Center in Europe

Japanese tire manufacturer, Toyo Tire Corporation, which is based in Itami City has revealed plans to set up a new research center in Germany. The facility would the company’s first R&D Center in Europe. It would be located in Willich, North Rhine-Westphalia and would become operational this fall.

Toyo is setting up this center with the objective of building a strong technical base in Europe by strengthening its expertise in product development in order to align with the “movement” of next-generation mobility. Once the new center is operational, Toyo would have three technology development sites – one each in the United States, Japan and Europe. Toyo has ambitious plans to enhance its capability of development among the current R&D centers and the new European center by facilitating the sharing of the information and knowledge among their personnel.

Toyo had already announced plans to build a new tire plant in the Republic of Serbia, and this manufacturing facility is slated to operational from January 2022. The establishment of the new technology center aligns closely with this plan as it would be involved in collecting market information regarding materials related to tires and in the development of the latest technology of tire products which is driven by the transformations in the world of next-generation mobility.

Europe serves as the base for a large number of leading automotive manufacturers and automobile-related companies. Hence, it would be highly beneficial for Toyo to have a base in Europe, especially when it comes to quality and the availability of fresh information. The center will engage in both material research and development of technology development and thus fulfill the function of ensuring the development and production of high-performance, high-value-added tires in the new plant in Serbia through research at the new center.

Toyo has plans to continuously enhance its expertise with regard to various types of technology in the field of tire compounding, production method, assessment and simulation technology which leads to strengthening Toyo’s strategic products.