Trial production has started at Nexen Tire Europe's car and light truck tire plant in Zatec, three and a half years after construction began on the $1 billion factory in the country's northwest region.
The first tire was "ceremonially dispatched" by Nexen Tire Corp. CEO Travis Kang on April 24, Nexen said in a written statement.
An official opening ceremony will be held "later this year," the company said without providing details.
Start-up of the first phase of the factory, producing roughly 15,000 units a day, originally was scheduled for 2018. Nexen plans to increase production at the facility to more than 12 million units a year.Zatec is Nexen's second plant outside of South Korea; the other is in Qingdao, China.
The factory will be a cornerstone for Nexen's business efforts in Europe, which are concentrated at the firm's new European headquarters and technical center, opened last September in Kelkheim, Germany.Sales in Europe last year totaled $500 million, or roughly 28 percent of the company's global revenues.
