Goodyear has opened its first overseas facility devoted to developing tires for the Chinese market.
The new development center is at the Akron tire maker’s large manufacturing plant in China that opened in 2012 in Pulandian, part of Liaoning province near the Yellow Sea.
“China is the world’s largest and fastest-growing market for passenger cars and commercial trucks, and critical to Goodyear’s growth strategy,” Richard J. Kramer, Goodyear chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “The new China development center will be an integral part of our network of global innovation centers and strengthen our innovation leadership role in the global tire industry.”
The development center initially will employ 25, said Joe Zekoski, Goodyear’s senior vice president and chief technical officer.
“We’re getting the team in place,” he said.
The company is not divulging the facility’s cost.
“The development center has to do with product development,” not core tire technology, Zekoski said. In addition, employees will customize products for the local market, he said.
The initial focus will be on developing original equipment tires for automakers in China, he said. The tires will be built at the Pulandian factory.
Depending on what is happening with markets and customers in other nations, Goodyear will evaluate whether it makes sense to open development centers elsewhere, Zekoski said.
The China development center will allow Goodyear to enter new original equipment platforms in China, including new energy vehicles, the company said.
Goodyear’s Innovation Centers in Akron and in Luxembourg will continue to focus on tire technology fundamentals.
The tire maker has two other development centers: in Hebron, Ohio, and in Germany.
