Continental has continued to increase production at the pre-cured tread manufacturing plant it added to its Mount Vernon, Illinois, campus in February 2018.

The plant is prepared for an expected 300% increase in production this year, thanks to its high-tech manufacturing process and retread sales growth, Continental says. In March, the company hired a second shift of production employees to support the additional volume demands.

“Continental saw a double-digit percent increase in demand for our retreads in North America last year,” said Tom Fanning, vice president of sales and marketing for commercial vehicle tires. “We expect that growth to continue as the quality of ContiTread becomes better known in the market and as we continue to add new partners to our ContiLifeCycle retreader network.”

ContiTread pre-cured tread rubber is only available to ContiLifeCycle retread partners of Continental.