Based in Japan, Bridgestone Corporation is the world’s largest tyre and rubber company.
This year’s FIM Endurance World Championship (EWC) begins during the Easter weekend. Bridgestone will continue its supply of Battlax tyres to competing teams, but instead of acting as sole tyre supplier to three teams as in 2024 and preceding years, in 2025 Bridgestone will exclusively supply five teams. The newcomers are the BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team and Kawasaki Webike Trickstar.
Brett Emerson, who is currently Consumer Business Unit Director Bridgestone NV/SA (North Region) within Bridgestone EMIA has announced that he is bidding a fond farewell to the company for the third and final time, effective 31 March 2025.
In the USA, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC (Bridgestone Americas) has recalled 1,185 of its R123 Ecopia radial commercial trailer tyres, designed for long-haul and regional applications. The reason? “A total of 24 tyres were manufactured with one of the three stabilizer ply belts applied in the wrong orientation”, according to official documents filed with US National Highway Transport Safety administration. The affected tyres, sized 295/75R22.5, were produced at the company’s LaVergne, Tennessee plant between 1 and 7 September 2024.
Bridgestone Corporation has announced its 2025 motorsports plan, a programme that involves continued support for various series at home in Japan and around the world, ranging from top-level professional championships to grassroots amateur races. As in past years, the tyre maker will use these engagements as a “mobile laboratory” to aid its development of aftermarket car and motorcycle tyres.
Following the news that Bridgestone Americas and Bridgestone Canada (Bridgestone) are collectively issuing a voluntary recall on 115 Bridgestone Blizzak 6 tyres that are missing the Department of Transportation (DOT) sidewall marking and are therefore not compliant with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 139, representatives of Bridgestone in Europe have confirmed that neither the UK nor wider European markets are affected by the recall in any way.
115 Bridgestone Blizzak 6 235/40 R19 tyres manufactured by Bridgestone Firestone Europe SA and imported by Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC have been recalled. The reason? “The subject tyres do not comply with the tyre markings requirements in S5.5(a) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. (“FMVSS”) 139. In other words, they don’t have a DOT code on the sidewall.
Choosing the right tyre for sporty compact cars such as the VW Golf GTI is crucial for performance, safety, and driving pleasure. The latest test from Die Reifentester evaluates eight tyres in the popular 225/40 ZR18 size. Tyre tester and former tyre developer Dirk Vincken, together with experienced motoring journalist Joachim Fischer, compared the tyres at the ATP proving ground in Papenburg, Germany.
Following the news that the recent class-action price-fixing case against tyre manufacturers has been dismissed, we took a closer look at the Judge’s ruling combining her legal opinion with analysis that we produced based on third-party European data around the time the US suits were brought. In short, we found that Judge’s opinion amounts to the belief that operating in parallel isn’t necessarily tyre price-fixing. And furthermore, our data shows that that broader tyre market prior landscapes somewhat contradict simplistic notions of prices always rising.
In the US, on 25 February 2025, US District Court Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division Chief Judge, Sara Lioi, dismissed the recent US tyre manufacturer price-fixing class-action that followed an EC investigation into similar claims relating to European tyre operations. The named defendants, in alphabetical order, were: Bridgestone, Continental, Goodyear, Michelin, Pirelli and Nokian. All six had jointly filed a motion to dismiss the price-fixing case “for failure to state a claim”.
Turkish tyre maker Brisa reports having “reinforced its pioneering position in the market” in 2024 despite challenging conditions. The Sabancı Holding and Bridgestone Corporation subsidiary attributes its growth in international markets under the Lassa brand to operational efficiency, strategic investments, and innovative products and services.
Frost & Sullivan has recognised the Webfleet management solution as its European Commercial Fleet Telematics Company of the Year 2025. Sharing news of this distinction, Bridgestone says that following an extensive analysis of the telematics market, the global research and consulting firm presented the award to Webfleet in recognition of its “formidable performance in innovation, business growth and customer care.”
Andrea Manenti left his position as vice president of Bridgestone North Region on 1 February 2025. He also departed his role as head of the company’s UK and Ireland operations. Bridgestone told Tyres & Accessories that David Almazan, Bridgestone UK & Ireland commercial director, has been promoted to Manenti’s joint role, heading Bridgestone EMEA North Region and the UK and Ireland. Drew Chapman continues in his role as consumer director. Manenti’s departure adds to the list of leadership changes at Bridgestone since the reorganisation of the company’s management structure in February 2024, including the instatement of a new business unit covering Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Truck fleets operating Krone trailers can now take advantage of Bridgestone’s Webfleet management solution via the OEM.connect partner programme. This enables operators to easily connect their Krone trailers to the Webfleet platform via factory fitted telematics, eliminating the need for aftermarket hardware installations. Bridgestone comments that by doing so, they can “access powerful trailer data to boost trailer utilisation, reduce downtime and improve overall safety and security while saving costs and time.”
Bridgestone Corporation has reported consolidated financial results for the fiscal year 2024, showing moderate revenue growth but declines in operating and net profit compared to the previous year. Revenue amounted to ¥4.43 trillion (£23.1 billion), representing a 2.7 per cent year-on-year increase. However, operating profit declined 8.0 per cent due to restructuring costs and lower unit sales in certain markets, dropping to ¥443.3 billion (£2.3 billion).
The Bridgestone share price increased 5.9 per cent today after the company’s Board of Directors announced a new share buyback programme of up to ¥300 billion (£1.563 billion). This programme will see Bridgestone acquire up to 75,000,000 shares, or as much as 11.0 per cent of issued shares (not including treasury stock).
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Stephen Goodchild / Tyre Industry Publications Ltd