Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing, Inc. Produces 5-Millionth Tire

WHITE, GA - Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing Inc. (TNA), manufacturer of Toyo Tires and Nitto brand tires, recently produced its 5-millionth tire. Considered the most technologically advanced manufacturing facility in the global network of Toyo Tires plants, TNA is located in White, Georgia, a community of Bartow County.

TNA utilizes a highly automated and proprietary tire production system called Advanced Tire Operation Module (A.T.O.M.). Resulting in highly consistent, highly uniform tires, the A.T.O.M. system is designed for multi-product, small-lot production with reduced lead times.  Open since December 2005, an expansion project was completed last year that doubled the facility's physical size to approximately 1.72-million square feet. 

Current annual capacity is 2.5 million tires with plans already in motion to install new machines and expand production capabilities as early as this summer.  An ISO 9001:2000 certified company, TNA employs an American workforce and is a corporate partner supporting the local Georgia economy.  In May 2009, the State of Georgia awarded TNA Georgia Manufacturer of the Year, honoring large companies with more than 500-employees.  It is centrally located near rail, air and interstate highway transportation.

"North America continues to be the most important market for both the Toyo Tires and Nitto brands," said Mr. Kenji Nakakura, president and CEO of TOYO TIRE & RUBBER CO., LTD. of Osaka, Japan.  "Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, strategically located in the United States, benefits both dealers and consumers by delivering our premium tires faster while reducing overall costs.  I can confidently say, as a company we will continue to invest in the United States."

Jim Hawk, president and CEO, Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing, Inc. said:  "We are proud to have achieved this historic milestone in our company.  It is with great thanks to the dedicated employees of this company, and to the support we receive from the State of Georgia."

Products currently manufactured at the facility include: Toyo Proxes ST II, Toyo Open Country M/T, Toyo Open Country A/T, Toyo Proxes 4, Nitto Grappler, Nitto NT 420S and Nitto NT 555.  Output is projected to be 4 million tires by the year 2012.

As production increases, Toyo Tires plans to hire more people from the local area.

Recently, TOYO TIRE & RUBBER CO., LTD. announced plans to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary in the Jiangsu Province of China, in order to manufacture passenger and light truck tires for the emerging China market.  This represents the continued globalization of the company.

For more information, visit www.toyotires.com. To learn about the full line of products from Nitto, log on to www.nittotire.com.