Hankook announces $1.6 billion expansion of Tennessee plant
Nashville, TN – Hankook Tire board of directors has approved a $1.6 billion investment to expand its Tennessee plant, located in the Clarksville-Montgomery County.
The investment includes the previously planned Phase 2 expansion that will double production capacity of Hankook’s passenger car and light truck (PC/LT) tires, and adds a Phase 3 expansion with the company’s first U.S. production of Truck Bus and Radial (TBR) tires.
The addition of the Phase 3 expansion project with its 400 jobs yields a total of 1,200 new Hankook jobs overall. Phase 3, alone, is valued at $612 million, state officials noted.
Hankook will double U.S. PC/LT production to 11 million units and enable production of 1 million TBR tires annually.
The expansion also brings Hankook’s total investment in the area to $2.2 billion and will enable the company to further provide tire dealers and consumers with “high-quality tires and industry-leading services to meet the demands of the American market, while supporting existing and future original equipment (OE) partners,” the company said through a news release.
“The investment in our Tennessee plant further demonstrates Hankook’s growing presence in the U.S. and commitment to serving our customers,” said Sooil Lee, CEO of Hankook Tire & Technology, and president of Hankook Tire America Corp., through the news release.
“Through a focus on sustainable construction and innovative manufacturing, the new phase of our Tennessee plant will provide an effective local-to-local supply chain to more effectively fulfill customer demand. Additionally, we are extremely proud to continue to support the local economy by bringing 1,200 new jobs to the Clarksville area,” Lee said.
Since Hankook’s massive, state-of-the-art Tennessee plant opened in October 2017, the company has produced 5.5 million tires annually for the North American market and generated 950 jobs up to now.
The North American market accounted for more than 28% of total Hankook Tire sales in 2021.