Based in Japan, Bridgestone Corporation is the world’s largest tyre and rubber company.
Tim Lee has been appointed as national account executive within Bridgestone’s consumer sales department. Lee joined the organisation in 2000 as a co-ordinator in the Brussels office, working with the product planning team. He transferred to the UK marketing team in 2004 and took up the role of product market analyst.
Bristol-based I.J. McGill Transport, a member of the Palletline network, has appointed ATS Euromaster to manage the tyres across its fleet of 40 commercial vehicles and 45 trailers – fitting Michelin tyres as standard. The new agreement reportedly replaces a previous Bridgestone contract managed by a local independent tyre dealer and will see ATS Euromaster work in partnership with I.J. McGill’s in-house maintenance team, supporting the complete fleet spectrum, from panel vans to 44 tonne tractor units.
Ian McGill, Managing Director of I.J. McGill Transport, says: “Tyre management is critical to the efficient running of any commercial vehicle fleet, and through ATS Euromaster’s Web Reporter service we can now view up-to-date details and inspection reports concerning any aspect of our tyre contract at the click of a button.
Twelve tyre retailers have joined Bridgestone UK’s First Stop network, taking the total number of outlets to 165. At the start of 2008, Bridgestone announced a target of expanding the network by an additional 30 outlets during the course of the year. The new dealerships are based across the UK.
The new First Stop dealerships across the UK are:
AMS
LTC
Eds Treads
Elmbridge Tyres
Barry Shaddock Tyres
Watling Tyres
Tyre Express
Steer Tyres
Mike Knight Tyres
M&S Tyres
W J Woods
Gates Tyres Co
The fully automated 190 million tyre manufacturing facility Bridgestone has built in Tatabánya, Hungary, officially opened for business on April 3. The factory is the first in Europe to feature the tyre major’s BIRD (Bridgestone Innovative and Rational Development) technology and only the second facility outside Japan to do so. Plant production of high-performance and large-rim sized radial tyres for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles is scheduled to reach 8,000 units a day in 2009.
More than 150 guests attended the opening ceremony, including senior Hungarian figures from local, regional and national authorities. Amongst this group of dignitaries was Mr. Ábel Garamhegyi, Hungarian State Secretary, Ministry of Economy and Transport, Mr. János Bencsik, Mayor of Tatabánya and Mr. László Beke, Mayor of Környe. Representatives of Hungary’s national and local media, officials from local organisations in Tatabánya and Környe, and managing directors of neighbouring companies also attended.
Towell Auto Centre LLC, exclusive Bridgestone distributor in Oman, has made further inroads into the national market with the opening of a new Bridgestone ‘Tyre Care Plus’ (TCP) facility in Barkha on April 2. The new centrally located outlet is Towell Auto’s 16th TCP outlet in Oman, and Towell believes the outlet represents an ideal model for a stand-alone tyre retail centre.
In attendance at the opening ceremony were Mr. Shoichi Sakuma, president of Bridgestone Middle East & Africa FZE, along with senior officials from Bridgestone and Towell Auto Centre. Mr. Sakuma along with Mr. Riyadh Ali Sultan, general manager of Towell Auto Centre, inaugurated the new TCP unit before a tour of the centre’s facilities and services was given.
Officials from Bandag announced on March 31 the organisation of Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions, a new business that will combine sales and marketing for Bandag and the Bridgestone truck tyre group. Saul Solomon, who has served as Bandag president, chairman and CEO since mid-2007, will become president of the new organisation, which will continue operating out of the Bandag Muscatine, Iowa headquarters.
According to Bandag spokesman Bill Block, the new organisation “gets all of the Bridgestone new truck tyres and Bandag retreads all under one business unit … It’s quite a large operation all together.” He added: “We’ll have to think about new tyres as well as retreads … That will affect the way employees do their jobs throughout almost every part of our operation in Muscatine.”
Quiet, emission-free forklifts powered by hydrogen fuel cells are now moving materials around the Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire (BFNT) plant in Aiken County, South Carolina. BFNT officials, along with the Economic Development Partnership of South Carolina, unveiled at the plant on March 31 a new “green-powered” forklift fleet that is replacing traditional battery-powered forklifts. Officials also announced the installation of a hydrogen fuel pump across from the plant that will be used by BFNT as well as other surrounding businesses. The plant is exchanging 23 forklifts this year and 20 in 2009 to create an all-hydrogen fleet. The fuel cells are a direct replacement that last longer than batteries and save time by refuelling instead of recharging.
“We are very excited about this new green initiative,” said Plant Manager Mike Rose. “This is a natural step for a technology-focused company like Bridgestone. Using this cutting-edge technology in a practical way helps our teammates and plant visitors get familiar with this clean, alternative energy. We’re proud to be among the first in the neighbourhood to use this green, clean fuel in our material movers.”
In Europe Formula 1 is considered the leading motor sport, but in the US IndyCar is king, but for the past 12 years this single-seater championship has faced rivalry from Champ Car. Now, however, the two championships are combining under the IndyCar Series banner – and Firestone has been selected as the sole tyre supplier to the series.
Bridgestone and Firestone have supplied both championships for the past 12 years and, for the previous few seasons, been sole official supplier to both. As official tyre supply brand, Firestone will act as title sponsor for the Firestone Indy Lights series, while still, says Bridgestone, benefiting from the tyre major’s racing work over the past five years.
Kumho reports that its products scored very high marks in independent tyre tests recently conducted by two of Europe’s top motoring magazines – Germany’s ADAC motorwelt and the Russian publication Za Rulem.
ADAC Motorwelt, a magazine with a monthly print one of 13.8 million copies, tested two strong-selling sizes, 175/65R14 T and 195/65R15 V, and of the 18 makes of tyre on trial only four obtained the top three star rating of ‘highly recommendable’ – the new Kumho Solus KH17 (due to reach the UK market later this year), the Pirelli Cinturato P4, the Continental EcoContact3 and the Fulda Eco Control. The magazine bought the tyres without the manufacturers’ knowledge and subjected them to a range of rigorous challenges. They evaluated driving stability, handling, braking and noise performance in the dry and carried out additional braking, aquaplaning, handling and cornering tests in wet conditions.
Production capacity at Bridgestone’s Tokyo manufacturing plant will increase through the addition of new aircraft tyre products, the tyre major announced on March 21. At present the Kurume facility in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture is the only Bridgestone factory producing new aircraft radial tyres, however production at the Tokyo plant will commence in the second half of the year.
The recent decision to further increase capacity means total production capacity of aircraft radials will be two and a half times the current level. Total investment earmarked for this project is around 2.5 billion yen (£12.5 million). When in production the Tokyo plant, along with that in Kurume, will complement Bridgestone’s aircraft tyre retreading facilities in North America, Europe, Asia and Japan.
Firestone agricultural tyres have a relationship with John Deere agricultural equipment dating back more than 20 years, and Bridgestone Germany is the largest tyre supplier to the John Deere factory, which is located in the German city of Mannheim and, in the 2007 fiscal year, produced more than 40,000 units of agricultural machinery.
The manufacturer of tractors and other items recognises the quality of product and service delivered by its suppliers with its “Achieving Excellence” awards, assigned primarily for good technical advice, outstanding delivery reliability, efficient problem solving and information exchange, and a low reject rate. Bridgestone comments that, overall, the collaboration between John Deere and Bridgestone Germany is an extremely successful one, and confirmation of this working relationship has come in the form of an Achieving Excellence award, recently awarded to the tyremaker.
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) and Power Sports Factory, Inc. have announced that a range of Bridgestone brand motorcycle and motorbike tyres will be available on the entire line of Power Sports Factory’s Andretti/Benelli premium motorcycles by the end of 2008. As the only motorbikes endorsed by racing legend Mario Andretti, the range of bikes combines high performance, competitive pricing and design by Benelli. The Andretti/Benelli line is known for its high-quality construction and attractive styling, comments BFNT, making it a smart choice for consumers.
“Given BFNT’s long-standing relationship with Mario Andretti, and the Bridgestone brand’s reputation for high performance motorcycle and motorbike tyres, we found this to be a great opportunity to tie the two together,” commented Phil Pacsi, vice president, Consumer Marketing, BFNT. “We are proud that Mario wanted to ensure that our tyres would be available on the motorbikes that carry his name.”
The Federal Hero tyre brands will cost 5 per cent more from next month. According to the company the price increase, effective on April orders, is designed to counter higher raw materials and energy costs and will be applied to all categories produced in both Taiwan and China. Taiwan based manufacturer, Federal Tyres joins the likes of Bridgestone, Goodyear, Continental, Michelin, Cooper, Pirelli, Yokohama, Nankang and others in raising tyre prices citing raw material price increases.
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) announced its Greatec wide base drive and Greatec wide base trailer radials have been added to the EPA SmartWay-certified list of commercial tyres. Besides meeting SmartWay’s fuel efficiency specifications, BFNT says that Greatec radials offer the additional advantage of allowing fleets to increase payloads.
Tyres that earn EPA SmartWay certification must achieve at least three percent better fuel economy than the average new tyre. Last summer, four Bridgestone-brand commercial truck tyres were approved for EPA-certified SmartWay tractors and trailers. The R287 steer, R280 steer, M720 drive and R195F trailer radials – and now Greatec drive and Greatec trailer radials – have earned EPA SmartWay certification.
A collaborative effort between Bridgestone Corporation and the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) to reduce the environmental impact of motoring is now underway. The campaign is called “Make Cars Green”, and Bridgestone, as a global partner of the FIA, will support and promote this campaign on a worldwide basis, working with national automobile clubs to promote more environmentally friendly and fuel efficient driving behaviour.
The Make Cars Green campaign will communicate “10 points for greener motoring*” throughout the world to encourage drivers to “think green” when they drive. Bridgestone will announce specific details of its programmes in June, 2008, however the fundamental 10 points are as follows:
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