Japan’s second-largest tire company, Yokohama Rubber Inc.,...

Japan’s second-largest tire company, Yokohama Rubber Inc., announced plans Thursday to buy an Ohio tire maker in a move that could substantially increase the size of Yokohama’s Fullerton-based subsidiary. Yokohama Rubber said it had signed a letter of intent to purchase Mohawk Tire Co., an Akron maker of rubber goods that reported $200 million in sales last year. Yokohama’s U.S. subsidiary, Yokohama Tire Inc. in Fullerton, posted $165 million in tire sales last year and is among the nation’s 10 largest tire makers, the company said.