Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. will build a dedicated truck/bus tire factory in China, a decision that was announced by Kenda Chairman Ying-Ming Yang during last week’s Reifen Show in Essen, Germany. According to the company, the plan will allow Kenda to broaden its scope into the radial truck and bus tire sector.
The new truck/bus tire plant will be constructed near its existing car tire plant in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province. Site preparation is underway with production expected to begin by 2016. Kenda has not yet released numbers for the plant, but media reports from Taiwan and China put the value of the project at more than $100 million for a plant capable of about 6,000 units a day.
Prior to this announcement, Kenda opened a European headquarters in Oldenburg, Germany, and it hired Tom Williams, chief engineer at Hankook Tire America Corp., to head a project to restructure and expand the firm’s research and development efforts worldwide.
