Nexen Tire has opened its first European factory in Triangle, an industrial zone in the Czech town of Žatec. The company’s plan is to grow the initial workforce of 800 up to 1,300 while investing a total of CZK 22bn in the site. The Czech News Agency reports that the company has also built a development center as part of its new complex. Production has begun, with management planning to roll out 3 million tires by year’s end. The annual capacity of the new factory is 11 million tires. The company’s biggest customers are located in Germany, France and Great Britain. CEO Travis Kang admitted that construction of the first phase of the project took far longer than expected. “We believe that this won’t happen again during work on the second phase.” Work on project documentation for the second phase is already underway. The factory is expected to cover 65 ha once completed. “The only thing that worries us is that there’s relatively low unemployment in the Czech Republic,” he told CTK.
