RAYONG, Thailand—Continental A.G. is expanding capacity for passenger tires at its 5-year-old factory in Rayong in response to "growing demand for premium tires" in the region and elsewhere, including North America.
Conti did not quantify the scale of expansion nor disclose the investment sum for the factory, which opened in 2019 with a nameplate capacity of 4 million units annually.
The expansion will necessitate increasing the plant's size by over 350,000 square feet, Continental said in a July 3 Thai language press release, and will create 900 jobs, once fully ramped up.
The factory site—located just 35 miles from the deep-sea port of Laem Chabang, Thailand—covers 185 acres, which provides sufficient space for a potential expansion to up to 25 million tires per year, Conti said at the plant's ground-breaking in 2017.
The facility is Conti's sixth tire plant in the Asia/Pacific region and 20th worldwide.
Conti budgeted $265 in 2017 to build the factory and followed that two years later with a $30 million investment to add motorcycle tire capacity at the site.
The facility, Continental said, will be equipped with "state-of-the-art" tire production technology from Germany to deliver "the highest quality and performance tires" to customers worldwide.
