The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., is expanding its passenger car tire production capacity in India to meet the increasing demands from the local market. With an additional investment of $82 million, the company looks to increase its annual passenger car tire production capacity in India with Yokohama India Pvt. Ltd. (YIN), its local passenger car tire manufacturing and sales subsidiary, from the current 2.8 million to 4.5 million tires.

The company said the new capacity will be installed within the premises of the Visakhapatnam Plant in the eastern part of India. The new line is scheduled to start production in the fourth quarter of 2024 and will be capable of building passenger car tires up to 22 inches.

Yokohama’s India subsidiary has been in operation since 2007 and has contributed to a sharp increase in sales of Yokohama-branded tires in the Indian market, the company said. The tires sold in India are specifically designed for Indian driving conditions. Yokohama said its Visakhapatnam Plant new plant started production in August 2022 to boost the production capacity of Yokohama Off-Highway Tires (YOHT).

India’s automobile industry has been expanding rapidly, with its total automobile sales volume in 2022 surpassing that of Japan, making India the third-largest automobile market in the world. Yokohama Rubber said it expects this growth to continue in the future.