A major milestone occurred at Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Virginia (YTMV) on March 23. The 100 millionth Yokohama tire rolled off the line at the Salem, Virginia plant. The 100millionth tire was a GEOLANDARA/T G015.
“I’d like to express my sincere gratitude and congratulations to YTMV on behalf of the entire company for this amazing achievement,” said Jeff Barna, president of Yokohama Corporation of North America. “The first Yokohama-branded tire was produced at YTMV in 1990 and since that time, Yokohama has grown dramatically here in the U.S. Such a feat would not have been possible without the local production from Salem, Virginia.”
Yokohama began manufacturing tires in the U.S. in 1989, when it acquired Mohawk Rubber Company’s plant in Salem. It has since been renamed to YTMV and has been renovated and expanded. YTMV, which currently employs 632 people, produces passenger car and light truck tires, including products from Yokohama’s famously rugged on- and off-road GEOLANDAR line and the fuel-efficient AVID family. Tires made exclusively at YTMV include the comfy/quiet-riding AVID Ascend LX and AVID Touring-S.
