Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. celebrate first tire produced at new joint venture plant in Vietnam

FINDLAY — Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.and Sailun Vietnam Co., Ltd. recently celebrated production of a first tire at ACTR, their new joint venture facility located near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, according to a release from Cooper Tire & Rubber Company. Cooper owns 35% of ACTR, which will produce truck and bus radial tires for global markets, the release states. The ceremonial first tire was the centerpiece of a special event held at the facility on November 18 to celebrate construction of the plant, it states. The plant is expected to be operational and producing tires on a commercial level by early 2020, according to the release. At full capacity, production is expected to be approximately 2 million tires annually, it states. "Cooperation between Cooper and Sailun has been outstanding, and we thank our partner Sailun for working so closely with us over the past several months to construct this facility," Brad Hughes, Cooper President and Chief Executive Officer is quoted saying in the release. "This is another important step in Cooper's strategy to expand and diversify our TBR production globally, giving us additional capacity to supply quality Roadmaster TBR tires to customers worldwide." Zhongxue Yuan, Chairman & President of Sailun Group Co. Ltd., is also quoted in the release, saying, "ACTR is a highly modern tire production facility with the latest technologies to drive quality and efficiency. We thank Cooper and all of those involved in the construction of the facility for their excellent support and cooperation. We look forward to many years of successful operation together with Cooper at ACTR."