LIPETSK, Russia (April 5, 2010)—Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. broke ground March 23 for its $165 million car tire plant in Lipetsk and expects the factory to be in production by year-end 2011.
The 462,680-sq.-ft. plant, designed to make 1.4 million tires a year at start-up, will be operated by Yokohama R.P.Z. L.L.C., an 80-20 joint venture involving Yokohama and Japanese trading company Itochu Corp. The plant will be built on a 59-acre site in a special economic zone in Lipetsk, about 350 miles south of Moscow.