Kenda's Brand New Tire Plant in Taiwan Operational

Taipei, Aug. 22, 2011 (CENS)--Kenda Rubber Industrial Co., the second-largest tire maker in Taiwan and ranking No.27 in the world by output now, has activated its brand new sedan tire plant in Taiwan, which has a daily output of 5,000 units mainly shipped to the U.S. and Europe and will contribute an additional NT$1.8 billion to its revenue a year.

In light of huge business potential in the U.S. and Europe, the company, mainly engaged in production of bicycle and motorcycle tires, has actively ventured into manufacturing of sedan tires in recent years. In the past, the company produced sedan tires only at its factory in Shanghai, China, which has annual capacity of 5.76 million units, before the brand new plant in Taiwan was set up.

With the Taiwan plant activated, the company said that its daily output across Taiwan and China will gradually increase starting in the third quarter of this year and hit 30,000 units by the end of the year, 50% more than the current capacity.

In the meantime, the company has also moved to expand sedan tire capacity of its Shanghai plant, while setting up new production lines at its Tianjin plant, which will be settled by the end of 2012 and start to roll in the first quarter of 2013 with daily output of 20,000 sedan tires.

In 2013, the company's Tianjin and Shanghai plants will achieve maximum aggregate annual output of 15.04 million sedan tires, with 90% of which to feed the local market for auto repair and maintenance services and the remainder to be delivered to local automakers.

The company has kicked off its sedan tire output expansion plan, as it has moved to look for a new location in southern China to build another plant for the moment.