Continental Tire North America Inc. (CTNA) will start manufacturing winter tires at its Mt. Vernon, Ill., plant in April or May, CTNA CEO Matthias Schonberg told www.moderntiredealer.com earlier this week.
The announcement comes on the heels of CTNA's revelation that it boosted its winter tire sales in the United States and Canada by 46% in 2008. (CTNA currently brings in winter tires from Europe.)
"Our winter tire sales have reached such magnitude here that it makes sense to build tires at Mt. Vernon," said Schonberg.
The decision will yield several benefits for CTNA and its customers, he explained. "If you produce (tires) in the country with the same currency as the market, that helps. Secondly, you don't have tires on the water, so reponse time" improves.
Twenty-five percent of CTNA's U.S./Canada winter tire sale volume will be produced at the Mt. Vernon plant, "with the long-term vision of getting up to 70%."
