Toyo Tire Corp. has announced plans to establish a subsidiary in the Republic of Serbia, to construct and operate a new tire manufacturing plant in Indijia City. The new plant is part of the company’s plan to continuously strengthen its business platform by producing highly added value product with timely supply to the global market.
Toyo Tire is currently supplying tires for the European and Russian markets from factories in Japan and Malaysia. As of 2022, the new manufacturing base in Serbia will take on a key role in this regard.
An IoT Manufacturing Execution System will be fully installed at this plant, which will operate as a sophisticated smart factory. With this plant, Toyo will set the foundation for a new level of competitive manufacturing, while achieving high-quality at low cost and plan to supply differentiated and highly added value products for luxury passenger vehicles and light trucks within and outside the European market.
Toyo says the Republic of Serbia complies with all of its requirements: an outstanding resource of highly skilled workforce but comparatively low wage, integration of automotive industries due to ongoing investment by foreign companies and a blossoming relationship with Japan, making it a particularly attractive business environment within Europe.
Toyo Tire will begin construction of the plant in Serbia in May 2020, and will initiate tire manufacturing operations in January 2022, with a capacity of 5 million tires annually (based on tires for passenger vehicles) by the summer of 2023. The plant will employ approximately 500 people.