23 new tire plants received DOT codes
In 2024, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) assigned 23 new tire plant identification codes in 10 countries, including several sites of major Chinese companies expanding their capacity, such as Sailun, Sentury, and ZC Rubber.
New codes were received by 12 plants in China, two in Indonesia and India, and one in Algeria, Brazil, Vietnam, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, and Pakistan. The total number of DOT codes now exceeds 1180, although over 100 of them are assigned to closed enterprises, and about 30 to plants that do not produce tires. Additionally, at least 50 plants use two or more codes, meaning that around 1000 tire enterprises worldwide can be considered "active".
In 2024, codes were assigned to the following plants:
080: Armstrong ZE Pvt. Ltd. (Gharo, Sindh, Pakistan). A new $92 million plant currently under construction in the Indus Delta, which will produce around 1.4 million passenger and light truck tires under the Armstrong brand, acquired by Dubai-based trading company Zafco from Pirelli in 2021. The production start date is not yet known.
07P: Borrachas Vipal Nordeste S.A. (Bahia, Brazil). A new Vipal plant, which is engaged in tire retreading and already owns seven production sites: six in Brazil and one in Tennessee (USA).
08B: Exmile (Jiangsu) New Material Technology Co. Ltd. (Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China). It was reported that with the help of the new plant, the manufacturer of tires for special equipment intends to enter the passenger car tire market. Further details will appear later.
07R: Haohua (Vietnam) Co. Ltd. (Binh Phuoc, Vietnam). A $500 million plant of the Chinese Haohua, the construction of which began in 2023. The capacity is 12 million passenger tires and 2.4 million truck tires, and production is expected to start this year. Haohua owns three sites in China with a total capacity of 20 million passenger tires and 5 million truck tires, and is also building a new plant in Sri Lanka.
084: Henan Guilun Tire Co. Ltd. (Xinyang, Henan, China). A plant of the Chinese manufacturer of special tires, which are offered under the Qicheng, Jinhu, and Xinyun brands. The company was founded in Xinyang in 2001.
07U: Henan Shunsu Industrial Co. Ltd. (Hebei, Henan, China). Henan Shunyu Industry Co. Ltd., which belongs to Henan Shunyuan Yuxiang Aluminum Technology Industry Co. Ltd., has been producing various aluminum products since 1999.
08C: iMotor Industry FZE (Abeokuta, Ogun, Nigeria). A motorcycle tire plant of the company iMotor, which intends to further invest $1 billion in the creation of the largest center for the production of motorcycles and components for them in Africa. It is reported that tire production has already started, and the plant's capacity is 40,000 motorcycle tires and 100,000 cameras per day.
07M: Iris TBR Factory (Setif, Algeria). A truck tire plant of Iris Tyres, the only tire manufacturer in Algeria, which began producing passenger car tires in 2019.
07X: Jiangsu Anlu Chi Technology Co. Ltd. (Wuxi, Jiangsu, China). Details are unknown.
08D: Jianxin Tyre Co. Ltd. (Quanzhou, Fujian, China). The company Jianxin produces truck and bus tires.
085: Overseas Strategic Consultants Pvt. Ltd. (New Delhi, India). Details are unknown.
07N: Perniagaan Semangat Maju (Selangor, Malaysia). Details are unknown.
086: PT Matahari Tire Indonesia (Kendal, Central Java, Indonesia). A new plant of the Chinese company ZC Rubber, the construction of which began in October last year.
081: PT Sailun Manufacturing Indonesia (Demak, Central Java, Indonesia). A $250 million plant of the Chinese company Sailun, which will be able to produce up to 3 million passenger tires and 600,000 truck/bus tires, as well as 37,000 tons of special tires.
07W: Sentury Tire Morocco (Tangier, Morocco). The new Sentury plant, worth $490 million, is expected to start commercial production in 2025 and produce 6-8 million tires per year. After the launch of the second stage, the capacity should increase to 12 million tires per year.
083: Shandong Greforce Tire Co. Ltd. / Shandong Kaixuan Tire Co. Ltd. (Qingdao, Shandong, China). The company produces truck, passenger, and agricultural tires under the Greforce and Lanwoo brands.
087: Rizhao Kaishun Tire Co. Ltd. (Rizhao, Shandong, China). The company is engaged in the production of motorcycle tires and cameras.
07V: Shandong Xida Rubber Technology (Weifang, Shandong, China). Details are unknown.
07T: Shandong Youyue Rubber Technology Co. Ltd. (Weifang, Shandong, China). The company owns such brands as Zelda and Dovroad.
088: TVS Srichakra Ltd. (Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, India). A plant of the local company, which produces tires for special equipment and two-wheeled transport under the TVS Eurogrip, Eurogrip, and TVS brands.
07Y: Qingdao Xinyuyang Rubber Co. Ltd. (Qingdao, Shandong, China). Details are unknown.
08D: Qingdao Hengxiang Industrial Products Co. Ltd. (Qingdao, Shandong, China). The company produces tires for motorcycles, wheelbarrows, etc.
082: Zhucheng Kingworld Rubber Co. Ltd. (Qingdao, Shandong, China). Kingworld was founded in 2009 and is engaged in the production of tires for motorcycles, quad bikes, and bicycles under the Highrover, Kingswood, and VGood brands.
DOT codes must be present on all tires sold in the US market, and their compliance with federal standards during random sampling is checked by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). If the tires do not meet the requirements, a recall procedure is initiated, and the manufacturer must pay a fine of up to $21,768 per tire and a total of up to $135.3 million.
In 2015-2016, due to the growth in the number of plants, it was decided to start the transition from two- to three-digit codes. To simplify this process, a unit is added to the front of the two-digit code, but there are exceptions for designations with the letters G, S, and Q, since S can be mistaken for a double, and G and Q for zero.