Based in Japan, Bridgestone Corporation is the world’s largest tyre and rubber company.
Bridgestone Corporation has taken a significant step towards powering its tyre manufacturing facilities in Japan with electricity from renewable sources. Third-party sourced electricity used within the Hikone, Tosu, Shimonoseki, and Kitakyushu plants now comes from hydro, geothermal, solar and wind energy.
Bridgestone-owned retailer ETB (Exhausts, Tyres and Batteries), has reported a 40 per cent reduction in accidents and is set for insurance savings of up to £30,000 following the introduction of the Webfleet fleet management platform. The Software-as-a-Service) SaaS system from Bridgestone-owned Webfleet Solutions, which has been integrated with forward and reverse Mantis Live cameras, has been rolled out across ETB’s 100-strong tyre delivery fleet, comprising both HGVs and vans.
In order to meet increasing local demand for high-tech and premium tyres and in response to national and regional market share gains, Bridgestone is investing in its manufacturing facility in Camaçari, Brazil. The more than R$700 million (£101.7 million) investment will go towards modernising the plant and increasing production capacity by more than 20 per cent. The project will begin by the fourth quarter of 2021.
Bridgestone Corporation is working to incorporate additional sustainability into its business model. Alongside plans to establish and build up a recycling business, retreading remains a key part of these efforts and features in the company’s plans to invest 700 billion yen (£4.6 billion) in strategic resources by 2023. To expand retreading activities, Bridgestone is looking at other segments besides commercial truck and OTR tyre retreading.
The mobox all-inclusive monthly tyre subscription service debuted in the UK in 2020, several years after Bridgestone first piloted the model in France. Bridgestone now intends to increase the global number of mobox subscription contracts twentyfold (compared to 2019) by 2023. While additional subscriptions in Europe will aid this expansion, the company will primarily achieve growth by rolling out the European mobox model in the USA and Japan.
Bridgestone Corporation has published its 2020-2021 Sustainability Report, a document it describes as “an important milestone” on its “ongoing journey to provide social and customer value as a sustainable solutions company.” The report outlines the steps Bridgestone has taken over the past year and contains detailed information about its Mid-Long Term Business Strategy, Sustainability Business Framework, Mid Term Business Plan (2021-2023), and CSR activities.
Hankook Tire describes its receipt of a General Motors Supplier of the Year award as an honour. The company is one of 122 suppliers around the world, including five tyre makers, acknowledged for exceptional performance in the 2020 calendar year.
First Stop has teamed up with a London-based firm of property developers to source and secure 20 prime retail development opportunities in a bid to attract new franchisees to its tyre and autocare network.
Agricultural tyres generally appear quite similar irrespective of brand, making it difficult to spot at a glance the difference between discount tyres and higher-priced premium products. Bridgestone observes that price thus “wrongly becomes a differentiating element” with these products. The tyre maker is concerned that some may gain the impression they’re paying extra for the brand rather than the tyre, and wishes to set the record straight.
Bridgestone Americas has made a minority investment in Kodiak Robotics, a leading self-driving trucking company in the USA. Nizar Trigui, Bridgestone Americas’ chief technology officer and group president of its Solutions Businesses, also joins the Kodiak Robotics Board of Directors.
While the world is still adjusting to the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been no small measure of disruption in the standings of the world’s leading tyre manufacturers, according to our latest top 25 table. Six of the top 10 have changed places this time round, with the headline news being that Michelin has regained pole position after several years of having Bridgestone in first place. At the same time, Continental has stepped up into third position, leapfrogging the previous incumbent Goodyear.
Bridgestone Corporation has announced that it will sell Bridgestone (Huizhou) Synthetic Rubber Co., Ltd., its China-based subsidiary for manufacturing synthetic car tyre rubber, to Taiwan’s LCY Chemical Corp. The company has not disclosed financial aspects of the transaction.
Two motorcycle tyre tests from PS. The German sports bike magazine took a look at slick pairs for professional riders in its 6/2021 issue, and followed this up by looking at four brands of track day tyres in its 7/2021 edition. The PS testers declared Dunlop and Continental the respective winners.
Yamaha Motor has selected the Bridgestone Battlax Hypersport S22 as original equipment tyre for the recently-launched Yamaha YZF-R7 Supersport. Bridgestone Corporation views this fitment arrangement as “part of a long-term collaboration,” under which it has delivered tyres for a “wide range” of Yamaha motorcycles.
Continuing our ongoing series of interviews with leading tyre executives, this month’s edition hears of Bridgestone’s achievements in the realms of sustainability, material development, retreading and more.
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