Goodyear breaks ground on Luxembourg tire plant

COLMAR-BERG, Luxembourg—Goodyear broke ground today on a passenger tire plant in Colmar-Berg that will use "additive manufacturing technologies" to produce premium tires in small-batch quantities on-demand.

Goodyear is calling the process technology Mercury, in reference to the mythical god of trade and travel and the inspiration for Goodyear's winged foot logo. It was developed and tested throughout the past five years at Goodyear's innovation and development centers.

"Mercury addresses the increasing complexity in the tire industry as the number of vehicle models and options available to consumers continues to proliferate," Richard Kramer, Goodyear chairman, CEO and president said at the plant's groundbreaking. "It gives us the capability to increase our speed and flexibility to meet the growing demand for small volumes of high-margin, premium Goodyear tires and to deliver them to customers on demand, faster than ever."

Kramer said the plant and the manufacturing process "will advance our connected business model, which aligns all of our assets—from the production floor to consumers who choose Goodyear online and at retail.

"It will complement our existing high-volume facilities and give us a true competitive advantage," he said.

The new facility, set to open in 2019, is in close proximity to Goodyear's Luxembourg innovation center and tire proving grounds. The company is investing $77 million in the facility, which will produce approximately 500,000 tires annually and create approximately 70 full-time positions.

Goodyear also has truck tire plant in Colmar-Berg.