Continental AG announced plans to significantly expand its truck and bus tire production facilities in Otrokovice, Czech Republic. This five-year expansion program will ultimately double the truck and bus tire production capacity at that site to almost 1.5 million units annually.
"The expansion of our truck and bus tire manufacturing footprint in Otrokovice is a strategic step focusing on long-term market growth," says Dr. Andreas Esser, head of the Business Unit Commercial Vehicle Tires at Continental.
"The plant will not only continue to serve Europe, Middle East and Africa; we will develop Otrokovice also into a production hub for The Americas and Russia."
Esser says that in addition to the further build-up of production capacity, the company will also benefit from the synergies of being in the same location with its largest passenger and light truck tire production site worldwide.
"Logistics, technological competence and experience in up-scaling production are already in place. This additional capacity will give us more flexibility especially in regard to the product portfolio, and it gives us a chance to supply markets in Americas and Russia," comments Thierry Wipff, head of Manufacturing Commercial Vehicle Tires at Continental.
"We can flexibly adjust the ultimate timing of the stepwise capacity increase and corresponding invest to the market development and the demand for our truck and bus tires. As part of the investment, more than 300 new jobs will be created throughout all production areas."
