The Italian Pirelli tire maker plans to double the production capacity and the number of employees at its Slatina-based plant (southern Romania) in the coming four years. In spite of the difficulties it is facing due to the financial crisis, the company announced the start of the second stage of investments in Slatina, estimated at €180 million.

Total investments in the Slatina factory will amount to some €350 million, while the total production capacity will reach almost 10 million tires annually as of 2013. Regarding the number of employees, we plant to have some 2,500 employees by 2012-2013, due to the increase in production,” the General Manager of Pirelli Romania, Enrico Malerba, told The Money Channel business TV station.

The Slatina plant produced three million tires in 2008, and the target for 2009 is four million units. “Our purpose is to reach a production of five million tires in 2010 and double this as of 2013,” Malerba added.

According to the general manager, the company had to rethink the organizational structure, due to the crisis, but this did not impact on the producer’s investment strategy. “Pirelli, like the other companies operating in the auto sector, was sharply affected by the crisis. But beyond the general crisis, and the drop in production volume, we will raise capacity and production at the Slatina factory. We are investing in Romania, because we are more efficient here than in other countries,” the company official said.