Continental to set up new commercial vehicle tyre plant in Mississippi

Continental has selected a site in Mississippi for a new plant to drive the future growth of its tyre business in the North American market. Continental Tyre the Americas, LLC (CTA) has reached an agreement with the state of Mississippi to purchase a site for the construction of a commercial vehicle tyre plant. The company has committed for a long term investment totaling approximately $1.4 billion and employing 2,500 people when the plant reaches full capacity in the next decade. The new manufacturing facility will be located at a greenfield site nearby the city of Clinton in Mississippi.

“The project is part of our global growth strategy. In a first step the new plant is especially addressing our commitment to grow our commercial vehicle tyre business in North America,” said Nikolai Setzer, Continental’s Executive Board Member for the Tyre business. “The announcement of a new tyre plant in the U.S. is the second in just five years for Continental. We look forward to a strong business relationship for years to come.” A date for the start of construction has not yet been announced, but the company expects to break ground in the next several months in cadence with market demands. The production of commercial vehicle tyres is planned to start by end of 2019.

Continental’s tyre business growth in the Americas has consistently exceeded the market over the last five years. “We continue to see customer demand for our commercial vehicle tyre products,” underlined Dr. Andreas Esser, Executive Vice President and Head of the Business Unit Commercial Vehicle Tyres. “This holds for new truck and bus tyres as well as for retreads which are growing beyond our existing capacity in the Americas,” he said.

“The team has worked hard over the past several years to add value to our commercial fleet customers by expanding our service offerings in order to lower the overall operating costs,” said Paul Williams, executive vice president, Continental Commercial Vehicle Tyres, the Americas. “As a result, we continue to enjoy solid growth in our business and a demand for more commercial vehicle tyres. As we plan our growth, we have found this site provides significant advantages for a future tyre plant in terms of its large skilled workforce, as well as its ideal location and infrastructure. The state of Mississippi has developed an outstanding business climate and this site met all of our needs for projected growth in the near as well as in the longer term.”

The international automotive supplier, tyre manufacturer, and industrial partner Continental currently has 10 truck and bus tyre production sites worldwide. The investment announced today is part of the growth strategy of the Tyre Division in order to continuously enhance its global manufacturing footprint and ensure manufacturing excellence to its customers. Aside from the U.S., Continental’s Tyre Division has recently expanded production capacity also in Russia, China and Europe to better serve global demand on a long-term basis.

Continental will begin site development in 2016 and expects to start construction of the plant in 2018. The site is more than 400 hectares and is by size and location well suited for setting up a gradually growing tyre plant.