New year, new offices. Bridgestone has relocated its Europe, Middle East, India and Africa headquarters to a “better connected, collaborative and sustainable” premises on the outskirts of Brussels. The new location is a short distance from Bridgestone’s prior office at the Corporate Village, covering three floors at Da Vincilaan 1, 1930 Zaventem, Belgium.
Solar rooftop panels installed upon Bridgestone’s Nong Khae plant in Thailand’s Saraburi province will directly power the tyre production process. The equipment installed at the Thai Bridgestone Co., Ltd., facility is the largest solar rooftop panel in use across the Bridgestone Group and has a total capacity of 9.95 MWp.
Days after announcing that its Alenza is an original equipment fitment on the all-electric BMW iX, Bridgestone shares that the fifth generation Lexus RX will also roll on these tyres. Lexus will equip models of the hybrid SUV sold in Europe and Japan with Alenza 001 tyres, while Bridgestone will supply the Alenza Sport A/S for versions of the Lexus RX sold in North America.
Masahiro Higashi, the Bridgestone Corporation chief operating officer with responsibility for the company’s business in Japan and its Bridgestone Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. (BSCAP) business unit, will from 1 January 2023 additionally take on chairmanship of BSCAP.
Through its local subsidiary Bridgestone Do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda, Bridgestone Corporation is once again increasing production capacity at the Bahia passenger car and light truck tyre plant in Brazil. Earlier today, the company said it would invest approximately BRL 270 million (£45.4 million) in this project; when combined with the capacity investment announced in July 2021, total investment in boosting Bahia plant capacity amounts to approximately BRL 970 million (£163.2 million).
Bridgestone Corporation has extended Enliten to the light truck segment, and next month will introduce the first Bridgestone truck tyres featuring the weight and rolling resistance technology.
Bridgestone Corporation owns almost 24,000 hectares of natural rubber plantations in Indonesia and has approved plans to increase yields there to ensure a sustainable supply of natural rubber for its tyre production. The company will invest US$26.7 million by 2030. The aim of these investments is to enhance the plantations’ productivity, with Bridgestone setting a goal of doubling harvest volumes (compared with 2022 projections) in a given area in 2035.
Bridgestone Corporation is investing to increase production capacity for motorcycle tyres at its Nasu plant in Japan, its sole motorcycle tyre production facility worldwide. The tyre maker will invest approximately 1.7 billion yen (£10.4 million) to gradually expand output potential from 2026, with capacity rising by approximately 90,000 units.
Bridgestone is investing in Tier IV, a Japanese start-up engaged in the development of open-source software for autonomous driving. The investment is part of a funding round that also includes additional support from existing investors Yamaha Motor and Sompo Holdings. Tier IV will use these funds together with a grant to launch its $300 million Green Autonomous Driving project.
Bridgestone Corporation plans to donate US$1 million to the United Nations Road Safety Fund (UNRSF), the global initiative that aims to halve road deaths and injuries in low- and middle-income countries. The company will donate over the four-year period from 2022 to 2025.
Bridgestone Corporation has announced plans to consolidate its aircraft tyre retreading operations in Asia. At the end of June 2023, it will close the Bridgestone Aircraft Tire Company (Asia), Ltd. operation in Hong Kong and transfer production to its Bridgestone Aircraft Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. facility in Chonburi, Thailand. The closure of the plant in Hong Kong will affect 102 employees.
Bridgestone Corporation has published its latest integrated report. It says the Bridgestone 3.0 Journey 2022 Integrated Report provides readers with a “comprehensive and better understanding” of the company’s approach and the initiatives it is undertaking to enhance corporate value over the mid- to long-term.
On 18 April, the Board of Directors at Bridgestone Corporation decided to strengthen the company’s global management structure by appointing two joint global chief operating officers. Paolo Ferrari will join Masahiro Higashi, who has served as Bridgestone’s global chief operating officer since July 2020, in this capacity on 1 May 2022. Both report to Shu Ishibashi, Bridgestone Corporation’s global chief executive officer. Ferrari’s remit will expand to include responsibility for Bridgestone’s business in Europe.
For the fourth consecutive year, Bridgestone Corporation has been selected for inclusion in the FTSE4Good Index Series. Announcing its continued presence within the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment index, the company says it will “continue various initiatives” across the value chain whilst striving to achieve what it set out in the Bridgestone E8 Commitment.
Following an investigation performed by Bridgestone Americas and third-party security advisors, Bridgestone Corporation understands that the “IT security incident” that Bridgestone Americas experienced on 27 February was the result of an “untargeted ransomware attack.”
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