Together with automotive producers, suppliers are making efforts to increase their presence in the country, in order to benefit from the growing demand. The latest example of such a development comes from the South Korean Hankook tire maker, who is considering building a new production site in China, as the local media reports.
"Expansion of production capacity is a must to increase our share in the fast-growing market," Heo Ki-yeol, the manager of the Hankook Tire China Headquarters was quoted as saying by South Korean press. "To meet the growing demand here, we started to equip one of our existing factories with additional facilities, and are now considering building a new one."
Hankook plans to consolidate its market leader position in China, as the company has been the top player in the country’s tire business since 2003. However, the tire maker’s production output hasn’t managed to keep up the pace with the surge registered by the Chinese car market and now the company can not meet the demand. This is why the company has decided to invest in expanding its production capacity.
The new plant should be built during the course of the current year and is expected to bring the total annual production in China to 44 million units, raising the annual sales volume to $1.2 billion.
Google News