SUMTER, S.C. Continental Tire the Americas’ new manufacturing facility in Sumter, S.C., is set to start production of passenger and light truck tires. The plant received approval from central headquarters in Hanover, Germany, ahead of schedule, it said.
“I speak for all of our Sumter team when I say how thrilled we are to have reached this important milestone in our new plant, and almost exactly two years from our initial announcement,” said Craig Baartman, plant manager. “Our thanks go to the Sumter community and the state of South Carolina for their outstanding support of this project.”
Continental broke ground on its Sumter site in late March 2012. Now, 20 months later, the site houses a 1 million-square-foot facility.
In its initial phase, the new facility will eventually produces 5 million tires a year by 2017. A second phase is expected to bring the plant’s capacity to 8 million tires a year by 2021, the company said.
The Sumter plant’s grand opening ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 28, 2014.