FINDLAY, Ohio—Cooper Tire will ramp up its capital spending this year, in large part to upgrade and expand plants in Mexico and Serbia, where work already is under way to prepare for additional production and product lines.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Transportation issued 22 new DOT plant identification codes in the past year for tire factories worldwide, including nine in China and three in India.

AKRON—The interaction between the tire industry and the world's motorsport community has undergone a seismic shift in the past few years that will result in nearly all of the major racing series committing to a single tire supplier situation.

RICHFIELD, Ohio—Nexen Tire has secured an OE supply position with Canoo, the Los Angeles-based company that's developing an innovative electric vehicle platform designed for the emerging shared/autonomous transportation sector.

LAS VEGAS—2020 is shaping up as a year of resurgence by leading Chinese tire makers in the U.S. marketplace—albeit with tires sourced from Thailand, Vietnam and/or Malaysia.

SAN FRANCISCO—Uber is targeting the automotive aftermarket service sector with a revised platform that it claims will speed up the process of coordinating courtesy rides for customers, especially for companies in the automotive space.

RICHFIELD, Ohio—Nexen Tire CEO Travis Kang cut the ribbon Nov. 13 on his company's newest investment, the $5.2 million America Technical Center in Richfield.

CLINTON, Miss.—Continental staged a ceremonial grand opening Oct. 17 for its $1.4 billion truck tire plant in Clinton, although production isn't scheduled to begin until early 2020.

BRASELTON, Ga.—As the 2019 IMSA championship season draws to a close, Michelin North America is reflecting on what it considers a successful first season as the series' exclusive tire supplier and sponsor.

CLERMONT-FERRAND, France—Michelin has notified workers at its La Roche-sur-Yon truck tire plant in France that it intends to close the 47-year-old factory by the end of 2020.

DAYTON, Tenn.—Nokian has developed a premium all-season tire for light trucks, commercial vans and sport utility vehicles, the One HT.

DAYTON, Tenn.—Nokian Tyres has commissioned production at its Dayton passenger/light truck tire factory two years after breaking ground on the $360 million project.

AKRON—Capital spending on new capacities by the world's leading tire makers fell measurably in the past dozen months to roughly $3.5 billion, but the total includes plans for seven greenfield factories.

AKRON—Even as capital spending by the world's tire makers on new plants and capacity expansions slows, and some tire plant projects have been suspended, the industry will grow measurably this year as five new plants announced in the past few years either have come on stream or are set to before year-end.

AKRON—For most of the world's major tire makers, 2018 was a flat year saleswise, leading to another year of status quo at the top of the Global Tire Report ranking compiled annually since 1986 by Rubber & Plastics News.