The first stones have been laid at Continental’s new motorcycle tire factory in Rayong, Thailand, which is in the immediate vicinity of the company’s existing passenger car tire factory at the site. Over the course of the next few years, Continental plans to invest approximately 26m (US$30m) in the plant.
When it comes on stream in 2021, production will initially focus on radial tires, followed at a later stage by bias-ply/cross-ply models. Around 100 jobs will be created in the opening of the plant. Ongoing demand for Continental’s motorcycle tires in Europe, the USA and growing markets in Asia and South America have created the demand for additional capacity.
According to Martin Burdorf, head of sales and marketing for motorcycle tires at Continental Reifen Deutschland in Korbach, Germany, the additional capacity will exclusively serve the new markets.
“Production operations in Rayong will neither replace existing plants nor stand in the way of their expansion. In Korbach, for example, the focus will remain on the development and production of premium tires, accompanied by a substantial increase in capacity.”
