Pirelli to choose U.S. tire plant site

LAS VEGAS (Nov. 1)—Pirelli Tire North America Inc. will announce within 15 to 25 days the site for a U.S. tire plant to engage parent company Pirelli S.p.A.´s MIRS technology. The site selection process is near an end, and ground breaking will occur in late November or early December, Carlo Bianconi, Pirelli Tire North American president, said at the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association show in Las Vegas. The plant is scheduled to be operational in 2002. Bianconi also said a second round of talks between company and union officials at the firm´s Hanford, Calif., tire facility will begin next week. Pirelli last month gave a 6-month closing notice for the plant, a move that only can be averted if steps are taken to make the factory more productive.