At a press conference on Oct. 4, Morin said that additional equipment would be purchased for the Las Pinas Goodyear factory in Manila, and he outlined plans to introduce a number of new products for export to Asean markets.
Goodyear’s Las Pinas plant exports 50% of its production to Southeast Asian countries, including China and India, however as the facility is already operating at full capacity no new staff will be added to its complement of 700 workers as part of these improvements.
In addition to this planned upgrade, Goodyear Philippines is urging potential Filipino distributors and retailers to invest in the tyre industry. According to Morin the company has plans to expand its retail outlets in 15 to 20 untapped markets throughout the chain of islands.
“We encourage entrepreneurs to be part of our branded network,” he stated during the press conference. Morin added that market viability was being assessed in a number of areas, but declined to specify which areas Goodyear was looking at. According to Morin the tyremaker has not predetermined any minimum sum for investment; he said that Goodyear was looking for people to invest in outlets of varying size – facilities that service anywhere between 3,000 and 15,000 tyres per annum.
At present there are 118 Goodyear retail branded outlets operating in the Philippines.
