Based in Japan, Bridgestone Corporation is the world’s largest tyre and rubber company.
There is a serious effort afoot to have the iconic “Firestone Tire Building” in Los Angeles designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument, Tire Review reports. According to a story on la.curbed.com, the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles petitioned the Los Angeles City Council's Planning and Land Use Management committee, which quickly passed a motion approving the designation. The proposal now must go before the entire city council.
Bridgestone’s wet tyres were employed at the rain-lashed Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans for last Sunday’s French MotoGP and an exciting wet race ensued. With two wet tyre compounds available, the softer was preferred by riders due to their greater warm-up performance and initial grip on a very cool track, where temperatures struggled to surpass 25°C. Masao Azuma, chief engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department explained how the weekend panned out according to the tyre supplier:
Bridgestone is taking a 460m² stand (3-237) to next month’s Essen Show where it will present its Total Tyre Life message. This means deails of how it “provides tyre experts and fleet operators with the best solutions for measuring and controlling tyre performance and costs”, says Yves Kerstens, MD commercial business unit, Bridgestone Europe.
Kings Road Tyres claims to have the largest and most comprehensive range of tyres for commercial applications in the UK, and now the wholesaler is making information on all of its commercial products available in a single brochure, with the publication of Kings Road Tyres’ Commercial Range Guide 2012. The new Guide is the first time KRT has combined its truck and bus, agricultural, industrial and construction, otr and high speed crane, pneumatic industrial and tubes and flaps ranges in a single publication. Also for the first time, the brochure is available in an easy-to-use electronic format by clicking the link to KRT Commercial Range Guide 2012.
Number one Turkish tyre brand, Lassa has opened its first Italian flagship store in Milan. The Lassa Shop’s staff will specialise in providing tyres and assistance for the Brisa-manufactured brand, with two customer initiatives launched at the same time: a courtesy bike programme, supplying bicycles to customers changing tyres, and the new Tyre SOS text service, which provides contact details for nearby Lassa dealers should problems occur.
Bridgestone Europe will supply original equipment tyres to Volvo Car Corporation, securing the tyre manufacturer’s first partnership with the Swedish firm. The Turanza T001 will be fitted to the new Volvo V40 five-door hatchback and the Volvo XC60 will be shod with Dueler tyres during May 2012.
Jorge Lorenzo dominated the field on his Yamaha Factory Racing M1 in a wet French MotoGP to claim his second win of the season, ten seconds ahead of Ducati’s Valentino Rossi, moving him to the top of the Championship standings ahead of third-placed Casey Stoner. All the riders chose to use Bridgestone’s soft wet tyres on front and rear on a cool, sodden track, increasing warm-up performance and initial grip. Bridgestone said the reduced standing water as the race went on resulted in very little degradation, since the majority of riders setting their personal best times in the latter stages of the race.
World speed records for passenger cars may be approaching the 250mph or 400km/h range, but it is possible to be a record breaker at more modest speeds. Bridgestone reports a Volvo wheel loader fitted with its VHS tyres has broken 103 km/h, creating a new world speed record for this type of vehicle.
Bridgestone Corporation reports that recent research conducted by its Bridgestone Americas operations may indicate that the Russian Dandelion can become a commercially viable, renewable source of high-quality, tyre-grade rubber.
The second staging of Tyrexpo India in Chennai next year will see the event tackle the topical issue of the increased radialisation of truck and bus tyres in India, event organiser ECI International says. The company says it is to reflect this in the structure and content of the three-day exhibition. “Indian and international tyre manufacturers are making huge investments in new production capacity for TBR radials for the domestic market,” says Paul Farrant, managing director of ECI International. “We want to reflect that dynamic trend at Tyrexpo India by creating a focus on truck tyre manufacturing, with tyre makers, technology experts, materials suppliers and service providers making a contribution to the show.”
High performance cars require high performance tyres – obviously. What’s not quite as obvious is that today’s tough market conditions are sharpening the motorist’s eye for real value and service – especially in the more discerning and therefore challenging high performance tyre market, which increasingly demands ‘high performance service’ to match. The good news, says Stapleton’s, is that this is exactly where it can make a vital difference – by throwing the weight of its nationwide network of 19 warehouses, 18 distribution points and a stock of 1.2 million tyres behind tyre retailer’s business.
Bridgestone is at Le Mans this weekend for the fourth round of the 2012 season, where it will provide an asymmetric rear tyre to deal with the demands of the circuit’s emphasis on right-hand turns. Hiroshi Yamada, manager at Bridgestone’s Motorsport Department, said: “Le Mans is a special place to visit with the large crowds and history of the venue combining to create a unique atmosphere and over the years the French GP has provided some very challenging races due to the poor weather conditions encountered at this time of year.
In order to place a greater focus upon its core businesses, Bridgestone has elected to withdraw from the electronic paper market. The company also indicates that increasing competition and rapidly declining prices in the liquid crystal panel business played a role in its decision. At present the exact timing for Bridgestone’s exit from the business has yet to be determined, however the Japanese manufacturer says it expects to conclude its production of electronic paper by the end of October 2012.
For the first quarter of 2012, Bridgestone has reported net sales of ¥726.2 billion (£5.6 billion), a three per cent increase over the first quarter of fiscal 2011. The company’s operating income amounted to ¥63.0 billon (£490.0 million), an increase of 13 per cent, ordinary income was ¥61.7 billion (£479.9 million), an increase of ten per cent, and net income was ¥42.2 billion (£328.2 million), a year-on-year increase of 35 per cent.
Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations has appointed Mitch Burke plant manager at its Warren County, Tennessee truck and bus tyre factory. Burke has been with Bridgestone Americas since 1989, starting his career as a junior engineer at the Warren County plant. Subsequently, he served in numerous engineering and management roles of increasing responsibility, including positions as quality coordinator, section manager, operations manager, area business manager, division manager of Truck Bus Radial Technical Services, and, most recently, division manager, Operations.
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