US tyre and wheel maker planning to double size of Europe business

Titan International, the US tyre and wheel manufacturer, is planning to nearly double the size of its European business in a bet on the continent's rebounding economy.

Chief executive Maurice Taylor confirmed the Illinois-based group is considering the acquisition of a beleaguered tyre factory owned by Goodyear in northern France. Arnaud Montebourg, French industry minister, made Titan's interest public. He said the company, which makes tyres for off-road vehicles, is also weighing bids for three extra plants in Europe in deals that would take its sales in the region from $750 million in 2012 to to $1.3 billion. "The thing in Europe is that there are not large farms," he said. "That means you have to be able to make tyres that can go on both the fields and the roads. The opportunity for us, if we can pull it off, is to be like Apple in that market."

Mr Taylor declined to identify where the factories under consideration were located but said they were in the countries in which Titan has operations: Germany, France, Italy, the UK and Spain. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013