JINGMEN, China—Shandong Linglong Tire Co. Ltd., Dec. 30, rolled out its first passenger car tire from its manufacturing plant in Jingmen, marking a milestone for the facility, which began production of truck/bus tires in November.
The $875 million facility, which spans more than 9.6 million square feet and includes 7.2 million square feet of factory space, should produce 12 million passenger car tires, 2.4 million truck/bus tires and 60,000 OTR tires at full capacity.
Sales revenue is estimated to reach about $75 million, once the plant begins full capacity operations.
Linglong is considered China's second largest tire maker and 17th largest worldwide, based on fiscal 2018 sales of $2.32 billion, according to Rubber & Plastics News' Global Tire Report.
In 2017, Linglong moved to a '5+3' strategy, that included expanding its manufacturing base in Jingmen and increasing its international locations to three. The manufacturing base in Jingmen was expected to integrate intelligent manufacturing, PLM (product lifecycle management), industrial big data application and high-end brand.
The company is building its second overseas unit in Serbia to serve the European market, and is mulling a third plant in the U.S.