Since the beginning of 2026, good news has been spreading frequently in Vietnam’s tire industry, and the pace of investment and expansion has accelerated significantly.
In early January 2026, the truck tire expansion project of Vietnam Chemical Group Da Nang Rubber Co., Ltd. was officially put into production.
The project, with an investment of approximately RMB 245 million, is not a simple replication of production capacity, but is committed to achieving a simultaneous jump in “scale + technology + industrial status”.
After the project is put into operation, the factory’s annual production capacity will be increased to 1 million, aiming to enhance its core advantage in the fierce market competition.
The total investment in Guizhou Tire’s Vietnam factory reaches US$615 million.
Among them, the third phase of the high-performance semi-steel radial tire (PCR) project with an annual output of 6 million units has rolled off the first tire in July 2025, and completed the first container shipment in January 2026.
On February 8, 2026, the company held a grand new product launch conference for Qianjin passenger car tires in Vietnam, marking its Vietnam base’s official large-scale entry into the passenger car tire market, focusing on core overseas markets such as Europe, the United States, and Southeast Asia.
On February 5, 2026, Haohua Tire’s factory in Dong Nai Province, Vietnam was approved to increase capital by US$400 million, bringing the total investment to US$900 million.
This capital increase will be used for the construction of the second phase of the project, with a planned new production capacity of 10 million pieces per year.
Once fully put into production, the plant’s total annual production capacity will reach an astonishing 24.4 million pieces.
The local government completed all capital increase procedures within 24 hours, becoming a vivid example of Vietnam’s optimization of the foreign investment business environment.
International giants including Michelin, Bridgestone, Yokohama, Zhengxin and other multinational tire giants have already set up factories in Vietnam, and have jointly built a diversified industrial ecosystem with local and Chinese-funded enterprises.
The rapid development of Vietnam’s tire industry is inseparable from its solid underlying support.
Vietnam is the third largest natural rubber producer in the world, with a planting area of nearly one million hectares and an annual output of over 1.34 million tons, accounting for approximately 9.2% of the global total.
Abundant raw material resources provide natural cost and supply guarantee for local tire manufacturing.
In addition, in addition to attracting foreign investment, Vietnam also has a number of local tire companies such as Da Nang Rubber, Southern Rubber, and Sangsang Rubber, as well as many special tire factories, forming a complete industrial chain foundation from raw materials to finished products.
The expansion of Vietnam’s tire industry is directly reflected in its highly competitive export data.
In 2024, Vietnam’s tire production has ranked sixth in the world, accounting for about 2% of the world.
90% of its output is exported, with annual export volume of approximately US$4 billion, covering more than 100 countries and regions including the United States, South Korea, and Japan.
Data in the first half of 2025 show that Vietnam exported 7.82 million commercial vehicle tires (TBR), a year-on-year increase of 21.28%; passenger car tires (PCR) exported 16.54 million units, a year-on-year increase of 12.74%.
In the past five years, exports of both types of tires have maintained rapid growth, with an average annual growth rate of nearly 20% for TBR and about 18% for PCR.
North America (the United States, Mexico) is the most important export market for Vietnamese tires, and demand continues to rise.
In particular, exports to Mexico will show significant growth starting from 2025 and become a new market highlight.
However, behind the dazzling data, Vietnam’s tire industry also faces structural challenges.
In 2024, Vietnam will still need to import approximately US$536 million in high-end tires (such as aviation tires and racing tires), mainly from China, South Korea, and Japan.
This exposes the local technology gap in high-performance, high-value-added tire products.
With the concentrated release of the production capacity of many giants, competition in Vietnam’s local and global markets will become more intense, placing higher demands on enterprises’ cost control, technology iteration and market development capabilities.
The rise of Vietnam’s tire industry is the result of the combined effect of resource endowment, industrial policy, cost advantages and geo-trade pattern.
It is not only an important location for the transfer of global tire manufacturing capacity, but also evolving from a “manufacturing base” to an “important global export hub”.
For the global tire industry, the release of Vietnam’s production capacity will intensify market competition, especially in the field of mid-to-high-end cost-effective products.
For Chinese companies, deploying in Vietnam is not only a strategic choice to avoid trade risks and stay close to the market, but it also means the need to accumulate richer experience in international operations and local competition.
In the future, the key to whether Vietnam’s tire industry can achieve a transition from “quantitative leap” to “quality leadership” lies in whether it can continue to expand its production capacity advantages while making up for technical shortcomings and move up to higher value links in the industrial chain.
In any case, Vietnam has become an increasingly important strategic fulcrum that cannot be ignored in the global tire map, and its trends will continue to affect the global supply chain pattern and competition.
