Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mississippi celebrated its grand opening of the new TBR tire plant on Oct. 5, 2015. The plant is Yokohama’s fastest build ever—opening just two years after its Sept. 23, 2013, groundbreaking ceremony.
“This plant tells our commercial tire partners that Yokohama is committed to this marketplace,” said Takaharu Fushimi, chief executive officer of Yokohama Corp. North America. “[Our customers] will get what they want when they want, as products will no longer travel across land and sea to reach them. Now the tires they need will literally be a call away.”
In the past Yokohama has been tentative to go after some large fleet contracts because it wasn’t able to make supply commitments, but the new plant changes that, said Rick Phillips, vice president of sales for Yokohama Tire Corp.
“When we talked to fleets in the past and said we wanted a factory, that only goes so far. When they see us breaking ground, that’s gone a long way,” he said. “We’re going to ramp up to full capacity and that’s just going to get better. We’re getting more and more fleet commitments and they’re excited about the plant.”
More more on the opening of the new plant, Tire Review has the in-depth story.
