Continental to expand truck and bus tyre production
The international tyre manufacturer and automotive supplier Continental today announced plans to significantly expand its truck and bus tyre production facilities in Otrokovice (Czech Republic). With a total investment of Ç165 million in the next few years, Continental is continuing the ongoing investment program for its tyre division.
“The expansion of our truck and bus tyre manufacturing footprint in Otrokovice is a strategic step focusing on long-term market growth. The plant will not only continue to serve Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but we will also develop Otrokovice into a production hub for The Americas and Russia”, says Dr. Andreas Esser, Head of the Business Unit Commercial Vehicle Tyres at Continental. This five-year expansion program will ultimately double the truck and bus tyre production capacity at that site to almost 1.5 million units annually.
“In addition to the further build-up of production capacity, we will also benefit from the synergies of being in the same location as our largest passenger and light truck tyre production site. Logistics, technological competence and experience in up-scaling production are already in place”, comments Thierry Wipff, Head of Manufacturing Commercial Vehicle Tyres at Continental. “We can flexibly adjust the timing of the capacity increase corresponding to the demand for our truck and bus tyres”, he adds. As part of the investment more than 300 new jobs will be created throughout all production areas.
Earlier this year, Continental announced plans to invest $95 million (approximately Ç70 mil-lion) into its North American truck and bus tyre production in Mount Vernon, USA, and Ç100 million into its largest European truck and bus tyre production in Puchov (Slovakia). “While our Puchov project is mainly targeting mid-term growth in the evolving markets of Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, the Otrokovice investment is a strategic step based on long-term market growth”, Esser says.
With a current annual production capacity of 700,000 truck and bus tyres and 21 million passenger and light truck tyres, Otrokovice is home to Continental’s largest tyre production site in the world.
