Hanover, 17 June 2024 - The Linglong tire factory in Zrenjanin, Serbia, one hour's drive from Belgrade, has been producing tires for cars, trucks and OTR vehicles since 2023. One of the world's most modern tire factories was built on an area of 500,000 m². The entire company site covers 97 hectares. The investment volume was almost one billion Euros and 1,200 employees will produce around 14 million tires per year at full capacity in future.

The first European tire plant of a Chinese tire manufacturer is a decisive factor for Linglong Tires' further expansion in Europe for both the replacement business and the strategically important original equipment business. As a result, in recent months the factory has been certified by the car manufacturers Nissan, Volkswagen, Audi, Ford, Stellantis group, Hyundai and Kia as well as the truck manufacturer MAN and approved for the production of original equipment tires - an essential prerequisite and the base for this production of tires that are specifically developed and optimized for the respective automobile manufacturers.

Michael Beverin, Director European OE and Quality at Linglong Tire Germany GmbH: “The many certifications from numerous renowned original equipment customers in our factory in Serbia confirm our decision to build a factory in Europe. The factory is one of the most modern and environmentally friendly tire factories in the world, and the significantly shorter logistics chains to our European customers also help to protect the environment. Our goal is to supply all of our original equipment customers’ European factories with European-made tires in the medium term.”