Bridgestone to Increase PCR/LTR Capacity in Thailand

Continued growth in global demand for radial passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres has convinced Bridgestone of the need to further expand capacity at its Nong Khae factory in Thailand. Capacity at the plant, which has supplied the domestic and key overseas markets including Asia, North America and Europe since entering production in 1995, has already benefitted from one capacity expansion project. In January 2008, work began on increasing daily capacity by approximately 6,000 units. This project is scheduled to be completed by 2011; now the tyre maker’s Thai Bridgestone Co., Ltd. subsidiary will invest approximately 21.3 billion yen (£164.9 million) to boost daily production capacity by 13,500 units to 50,000 units by the end of 2014.

The 660,000 square metre Nong Khae factory is located in Thailand’s Saraburi Province, some 80 kilometres north of Bangkok. As of January 2010 the site had 1,579 employees, and plant production is dedicated to passenger car and light truck tyres. Bridgestone states this investment shows it is “well positioned to respond to rapidly changing market trends and will continue to build or expand production facilities on a global basis, as necessary, to produce world-class quality tyres to satisfy worldwide demand.”