Bridgestone Europe Confirms Polish Plant Plans

Bridgestone Corporation has confirmed that its European subsidiary, Bridgestone Europe NV/SA (BSEU), is to build a radial truck and bus tyre production plant in Poland. Approximately 200 million euros (¥28 billion) has been earmarked for the project. The new plant will be operated by a wholly-owned subsidiary of BSEU that is to be established. Construction will begin in the first half of 2007, with production expected to get underway in the first half of 2009. Production capacity is projected to be around 5,000 tyres a day.

Announcing the news Takashi Urano, Chairman, CEO & President of Bridgestone Europe said “This is an important step towards making our European supply chain less reliant on tyres imported from outside Europe”.

This will be Bridgestone’s second truck and bus radial tyre plant in Europe following the Bilbao Plant in Spain. The new plant will be the Bridgestone’s third in Eastern Europe. The company is already operating one facility in Poznan, Poland and another in Hungary. The new plant will be the 51st plant in Bridgestone’s global tyre production network, which spans 24 nations, including Brazil, Mexico, China and Hungary.