Goodyear South Africa will invest R670-million to increase production of high-value-added (HVA) consumer tyres at its Uitenhage manufacturing plant, in the Eastern Cape, relocating the plant’s production of medium radial truck tyres (MRT) to other plants across the company’s facilities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Goodyear South Africa MD Jean-Jacques Wiroth confirmed on Tuesday that to allow for the expansion, there would be some impact on employees and that it had started consultations with unions on Tuesday.

“The truck tyres are a small part of our production here,” he said.

Goodyear would consult with the union representatives from the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and Solidarity and employees who were currently working in the MRT area to reduce the impact of the relocation by offering several alternatives.

“At this point in time, we are not looking at incremental job creation, but we are focusing on our existing jobs and making our plant more sustainable,” Wiroth advised.

Subject to consultation, Goodyear expected to be substantially done with the investment plans by the end of 2016 or early 2017. The company does not anticipate a disruption to tyre services or supply during this period.

Meanwhile, Goodyear noted that the investment plan would see the introduction of manufacturing technology from preparation to curing for the plant and would enable Goodyear to meet the strong and growing market demand for HVA consumer tyres in South Africa and the rest of the sub-Saharan Africa region.

The tyre market in South Africa and the region overall was expected to experience double-digit growth through 2020 led by the consumer segment.

Although Wiroth could not reveal the company’s growth estimates, he told Engineering News Online that middle class consumers were driving growth.

“The country’s cars are getting incrementally sophisticated. You see high-end 4X4s more often, as well as in the surrounding countries, which [are] also experiencing unprecedented growth.

“This is an important investment by Goodyear and is consistent with our strategy to serve the needs of our customers and the company’s focus to invest in high-return projects that drive profitable growth,” he added.

The new technology and accompanying comprehensive employee training would further improve the plant’s capability and capacity to produce low rolling resistance tyres that promoted fuel economy in vehicles to meet the growing demand from vehicle manufacturers and the replacement market, as well as meet the increase in market requirements for HVA 4X4 sports utility vehicle tyres.