Continental has shipped the first tires from its greenfield plant in Clinton, Mississippi.
The Clinton plant produces large truck and bus tires for the North American market, and will employ 500 people by the end of 2020, the company says. It is Continental’s second location producing truck tires in the U.S., along with Mount Vernon, Ill.
“Continental is proud to deliver the first tire shipment from the Clinton plant,” said Tom Fanning, Continental’s U.S. market manager for truck and bus tires. “This plant will produce 750,000 tires annually, enhancing our ability to service the North American market and deliver tires faster to our customers.”
Continental says it has seen customer demand for commercial vehicle tires growing globally in the past decade, both in new truck and bus tires, as well as tire retreads. This growth led the company to establish further production capacity in the U.S. The Clinton plant is Continental’s first new plant for the truck tire business globally in more than 10 years.
