On December 16, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Yokohama Qiantang smart factory major project was held in Qiantang, Zhejiang, marking the official start of construction of the largest single foreign-owned manufacturing project introduced by Hangzhou in the past decade with a total investment of approximately US$500 million.
The Yokohama Qiantang smart factory was invested and built by its Japanese parent company, Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd, with a total investment of approximately US$500 million. The project is expected to be put into production in 2026. After reaching full capacity, the annual output value will reach 3.5 billion yuan, which will effectively drive Qiantang and even the entire Hangzhou automobile industry to improve the ecological system and expand its development capabilities.
The construction of the Yokohama Qiantang smart factory will not only give full play to Yokohama Rubber's technological advantages, but also combine the technical strength of domestic enterprises to achieve low-cost, high-efficiency and environmentally friendly production. The new factory's production capacity will increase from 6 million pieces per year to 9 million pieces per year in 2026, and will gradually increase to 14 million pieces per year in the future. It will focus on expanding the proportion of new energy vehicle supporting and high value-added products, and strengthening the production capacity of large-size tires. At the same time, Yokohama Rubber's increased investment is not limited to the construction of new smart factories and production lines. It will also continue to focus on original innovation and plans to establish innovation platforms such as R&D centers in Qiantang in the future.
"This project aims to create 'digital economy, green manufacturing' and takes energy conservation, emission reduction, process reengineering, and intelligent manufacturing as its core," said Yokohama.
It is understood that Yokohama Rubber is a world-renowned tire manufacturer. As early as 2001, it invested in tire production lines in Qiantang and has witnessed the growth of Qiantang's automobile industry for more than 20 years. Hangzhou Yokohama has also grown into Yokohama Rubber's iconic factory in China.
Before signing the contract for the construction of the Yokohama Qiantang smart factory project, Yokohama Rubber had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Hangzhou local new energy vehicle manufacturers such as Leapmotor. In the future, it will continue to expand the cooperation with automobile manufacturers in Hangzhou and even Zhejiang in the whole-part and parts supporting, enhance the supporting capabilities for new energy vehicles, and further promote the development of the automobile industries.
The new factory will be the first plant to be built under the YRC "one-year plant" challenge detailed in its Yokohama Transformation 2026 (YX2026) strategy. With the support and guarantee of relevant departments at all levels, the project strives to build a low-cost, high-efficiency and highly market-competitive production base within one year. By 2030, the Yokohama Qiantang smart factory will become Yokohama Rubber's world-leading factory in terms of production capacity.
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