Yokohama Rubber Plans to Expand Production of Off-Highway Tyres in India

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has announced today that it will expand the Yokohama Group’s global production capacity for off-highway tires. The company has plans to add new facilities for production of off-highway tyres at ATC Tires Pvt. Ltd. ATC Tires Pvt. Ltd is the Indian tyre manufacturing and sales subsidiary of the Alliance Tire Group (ATG). Yokohama Rubber had acquired the Alliance Tyre Group in July 2016. Plans have been finalized for the construction of the new facilities from February onwards at ATC Tire’s Dahej factory in the Indian state of Gujarat.

The company is planning to invest a total amount of USD 45.50 million in order to expand the capacity of the Dahej Plant from the current annual output of 57,000 tons to 91,700 tons by the end of 2019. In view of increasing demand for the tyres it makes, Yokohama Rubber has decided to expand production capacity so that there will be no risk of shortfall in production to cater to the demand from customers in the medium term.

In addition to its factory in Dahej, Gujarat, ATC Tires has another facility for production of tyres Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. The Dahej Plant commenced production of tyres March 2015 and now makes tyres which are sold under three core ATG tyre brands — the ALLIANCE, GALAXY and PRIMEX brands. These tyres are bought by consumers for use on a wide range of off-road vehicles like construction equipment, agricultural machinery, forestry and industrial machinery.

Yokohama Rubber is focusing on expansion of its commercial tyre business as one of its core strategies. As part of this strategy, the company had started manufacture of truck and bus tyres at a new plant in Mississippi, United States. The company acquired the Alliance Tire Group in 2016 and Aichi Tire Industry Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of tyres for industrial machinery in March 2017 as part of the drive to further expand its commercial tire business. The new investment in its facility in India to ramp up the production of commercial tyres will strengthen the company’s presence in the commercial tyre business and add to its global footprint.