Hankook to Build $954 Million Plant in China

Hankook Tire announced it will build its sixth manufacturing plant in Chongqing, China. The tiremaker said the newest plant, its third in China, is expected to boost Hankook’s production scale to become the world’s fifth largest tire company within a few years.

Hankook will invest $954 million in the new plant, which will cover an area of approximately 530,000 square meters. It will be located in the Liang Jiang Xin Qu area of Chongqing Municipal. The groundbreaking will take place in the first quarter of 2011 and completion is slated for the end of 2015, according to the company.

Once finished, the plant will have an annual capacity of 11.5 million passenger and truck and bus tires, generating sales of $1 billion annually. It will also create about 4,600 new jobs in the region, according to Hankook.

“Hankook Tire is one of the world’s most dynamically growing tire companies,” said Seung Hwa Suh, vice chairman and CEO. “With the establishment of Hankook Tire’s global sixth plant, Hankook has taken another step toward our goal to strengthen our global foothold and to become a leading global tire company. We will continue to seek for future investment opportunities in order to improve our production capacity and productivity, and will also show our commitment to the local communities.”

Currently, Hankook operates five production facilities – two in Korea (Geumsan and Daejeon), two in China (Jiaxing and Jiangsu) and one in Hungary (Racalmas). The five plants have a total production capacity of 87 million units per year. With an additional sixth plant, the production capacity is expected to increase to 100 million units annually.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named Ryan Waldron as president of the company's Americas business unit, reporting to Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Stewart. He succeeds Steven R. McClellan, who retired on April 1.

"At Goodyear, our customers are at the center of everything we do, and in Ryan Waldron, we have a customer-centric, execution-focused business leader with a deep understanding of both the marketplace and all aspects of our business, as well as a proven track record of delivering results," Stewart said. "I am thrilled to announce him as president of Goodyear's Americas business and have enormous confidence that under his leadership, both the company and our customers will reach even greater levels of success."