Continental AG has announced that it has laid the cornerstone for a new tyre plant in Camacari in the Brazilian state of Bahia. The production of passenger tyres is planned initially to start in 2006.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
In the first phase, Continental will be investing approximately $260 million in the new plant with roughly 100,000 square meters floor space, creating more than 1,000 jobs. Martien de Louw, member of the Continental Executive Board responsible for the Passenger and Light Truck Tyres division, announced that following the construction of the passenger tyre plant, a plant for commercial vehicle tyres would also be built. Production is scheduled to start at the beginning of 2007.
“By building the plant in Bahia, we are continuing our involvement in growth markets. At the same time, we are being consistent with our strategy of further expanding production at low-cost locations,” said de Louw. The plant in Bahia, which can be expanded to have a capacity of up to six million passenger tyres and 700,000 commercial vehicle tyres, will supply products primarily to the NAFTA region.
“The new capacities with low-cost production play a major role in our turnaround concept for the passenger tyre business in the NAFTA region, which has up to now been running at a loss. At the same time, the capacities permit profitable growth,” stressed de Louw.
Continental says that experts believe that the market in the NAFTA region will grow by 11 percent to 382 million passenger tyres by 2008. “We are now getting ready for this development.”
