FINDLAY, Ohio (June 19. 2008) — Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. said it will invest $31 million and take a minority stake in Mexico's second-largest tire plant.
The facility in Guadalajara, Mexico, will be jointly owned by Cooper, Mexican holding company IBSA, and Cooperativa TRADOC S.R.L., the employee owners of the Corporacion de Occidente plant. Cooper will hold a 38-percent share in the facility.
Corporacion de Occidente produces 2.4 million passenger radial tires per year, Cooper said. Expansion plans already are in place to boost that capacity to an estimated 4.6 million by year-end 2010, and to 6 million units during 2011. The factory employs 700.