Goodyear to expand production capacity at South African facility

Goodyear South Africa Ltd. will be expanding the capacity for High Value-Added (HVA) consumer tyres at its Uitenhag plant in the next 16 months. It will be relocating the capacity for truck tyres to other plants in Europe and the Middle East. The company is allocating approximately $50 million for this project that is expected to be completed by 2016-end or early-2017.

According to the company, this expansion will enable them to meet the strong and growing market demand for HVA consumer tyres in South Africa and sub-Sahara Africa. The overall tyre demand is expected to double up through 2020, led by the consumer tyre segment. However, Goodyear did not disclose the scale of capacity expansion at the 68-year-old plant. The production capacity of the plant is listed as 10,000 units a day.

Presently, around 1,000 people are employed at this plant but the company did not disclose if there will be any effect of the expansion on the jobs at the facility. However, the company said that they will consult with union representatives and employees working in the medium truck radial area to minimize the impact by offering variety of options.

"This is an important investment by Goodyear and is consistent with our strategy to serve the needs of our customers and the company’s focus to invest in high-return projects that drive profitable growth," said Managing Director of Goodyear South Africa Jean-Jacques Wiroth.

The eight regions where the company has its truck tyre manufacturing are Montlucon (France), Hanau and Wittlich (Germany), Colmar-Berg (Luxembourg), Debica (Poland), Kranj (Slovenia) and Adapazari and Izmit (Turkey).