MILAN, Italy (Nov. 16)—A new tire plant in Romania and expanded capacity at two tire facilities in Brazil are part of Pirelli S.p.A.'s future plans.
The company said it will spend more than $130 million over three years to build the passenger tire plant in Slatina, Romania, next to a Pirelli-Continental A.G. joint venture steel tire cord factory that is under construction. The new tire facility primarily will make performance passenger tires to meet growing demand from East European markets.
In Brazil, Pirelli plans to invest nearly $100 million to expand its recently opened factory in Bahia and build a steel radial truck tire facility at its Gravatai auto tire plant site. The company didn't disclose details about the projects.
Pirelli also said it is moving forward with adding MIRS automated tire capacity at plants in the U.S., Germany, and the United Kingdom. The added capacity will become operational during the first half