Continental has broken ground on the expansion of its Sumter factory, which will increase tyre production capacity from approximately 4m units planned for 2016 to 8m units and will more than double the current 700 jobs to 1,600. Tyres produced at the Sumter plant will help meet the increasing demand for Continental and General brand tyres from both aftermarket business and automotive manufacturers.
With the expansion, Continental has met the total projected spend of more than $500m announced in October 2011.
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The plant will reach an employment level of approximately 800 by the end of 2015.
This second phase will total approximately 720,000sq ft including the new production hall and expanded warehouses for raw materials and finished goods. This is in addition to 1m square feet in the existing plant. The finished goods warehouse will be expanded to nearly one and a half times its original size.
