Yokohama Rubber to build €200m passenger car tire plant in China

Hiratsuka, Japan – Yokohama Rubber Co. (YRC) is relocating its passenger car tire production in Hangzhou, in eastern China to a new greenfield factory in the same city.

The Japanese tire & rubber group is investing Yen36.7 billion (€212 million) in the new tire plant, which will be located in the Qiantang new district of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang province.

The facility will initially have an annual production capacity of 9 million tires, with further expansion to be considered in the future, YRC said 1 July.

The Japanese group expects to start production at the new tire production plant in the second quarter of 2026.

The decision to construct the new plant is in response to a government request for the relocation of the existing factory in Hangzhou as part of an urban renewal project.

As part of the move, YRC has created a new subsidiary - Hangzhou Qiantang Yokohama Tire - to operate the new facility.

Tomoyuki Okuno, formerly president of Hangzhou Yokohama Tire will lead the new subsidiary. 

The new unit will be the first plant to be built under the YRC “one-year plant” challenge detailed in its Yokohama Transformation 2026 (YX2026) strategy. (ERJ report).

Under the challenge, YRC aims to construct ‘low-cost and highly efficient’ plants in one year in order to gain “a strong competitive position in the local market.”

To meet expected further increases in tire demand in China, the new plant will increase YRC’s current annual production capacity in the country by 3 million units.

The products will include OE tires for new energy vehicles (NEVs), including electric vehicles.

In addition, YRC aims to increase the sales of high-value larger tires the Chinese replacement market, particularly the Advan flagship brand and the Geolandar brand for SUVs and pickup trucks.

The group has already entered “a strategic alliance” with Leapmotor, an NEV production company in Hangzhou for the supply of tires.

YRC currently operates two production facilities in China, including the Hangzhou Yokohama Tire with a nameplate capacity to produce 6 million passenger car tires.

The group also operates a 6.4-million units rated plant in Suzhou, where it makes passenger car tires and truck & bus tires.