TOKYO—Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. is evaluating the need for and feasibility of expanding capacity at its White, Ga., tire plant, but nothing is definite at this time.
Toyo Tire President Akira Nobuki said last week that Toyo is considering raising capacity in the U.S., especially for profitable products such as tires for sport-utility vehicles, according to a published report by Bloomberg that was published in Automotive News. Nobuki said Toyo is evaluating a roughly 30-percent increase in capacity at the White factory, to 8.5 million units annually, the story said.
However, James Hawk, chairman of Toyo Tire Holdings America Inc., president of Toyo Tire Manufacturing and a corporate office of Toyo Tire & Rubber, while confirming the basics of the interview but said Nobuki was speaking of mid-term plans.
Toyo last expanded the 8-year-old White plant in 2010-11.