Based in Japan, Bridgestone Corporation is the world’s largest tyre and rubber company.
Bridgestone Corporation has shared details of its Mid-Term Business Plan for the three-year period from 2021 to 2023, and this plan entails significant changes for the company’s manufacturing footprint. In a presentation given by chief executive officer Shu Ishibashi, Bridgestone outlines the direction this restructuring will take.
As far as auto components are concerned, Pirelli has come out on top in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook 2021, following the confirmation that it is rated as “Gold Class”. The Sustainability Yearbook 2021, which is published by S&P Global and takes into consideration the sustainability profiles of over 7,000 companies, also mentioned three other tyremakers: Hankook, Nokian and Bridgestone in the ranking.
Bridgestone Corporation has invested in NEXT Logistics Japan, a company established by truck manufacturer Hino Motors in 2018 to explore new technologies and solutions for the logistics industry. The new investor will work together with NEXT Logistics Japan on a new long-distance transportation scheme that aims to reduce the number of drivers required for road haulage.
SSH Recycling Ltd has submitted a planning pre-application to Renfrewshire council in a bid to build a tyre devulcanization and processing plant in Linwood, Renfrewshire, Scotland.
The project is what the company describes as “the first of its kind in the UK” and is intended to “solve the entirety of Scotland’s waste tyre problem, using revolutionary new technology to recycle or reuse every component part of the tyre”. However, SSH’s process will support the devulcanisation of treated rubber in order to create synthetic rubber sheet, conveyor belts, shoe soles or rubber mats.
Bridgestone Americas has executed a US$1.1 billion sustainability-linked credit facility in partnership with Sumitomo Mitsubishi Banking Corporation (SMBC). Under this credit facility, the costs that Bridgestone incurs in relation to its borrowings will decline or rise in line with independent appraisals of its sustainability.
Bridgestone will increase tyre prices in Europe on 1 March. Prices will increase by an average of 4 per cent on its truck and bus tyre products and by an average of 5 per cent on its passenger car and van tyre portfolio. The manufacturer said it has chosen to implement price hikes “due to the current market conditions.” Bridgestone added that its EMIA sales team will contact customers to provide more information about the changes.
Brand Finance normally releases its tyre brand ranking in March, but the analysts’ list of the top 500 brands in the world gives us a preview of what we will see in roughly a month’s time. Published at the end of January 2021, the latest Brand Finance report ranks companies according to their brand’s strength and monetary value. Michelin and Bridgestone are the only two tyre brands in the top 500 and it is clear that the competition between the two continues to heat up.
Bridgestone Corporation reports it has developed a new technology for improving the rubber productivity of guayule plants. It worked on this technology in a joint development project with Kirin Holdings Company, Limited, a company perhaps better known for beer and other beverages.
The dream of securing natural rubber supplies in the vicinity of production facilities and reducing dependency upon hevea rubber plantations has preoccupied Bridgestone Corporation for the past decade. Early in 2018 it announced a collaboration with genomic big data company NRGene to advance the commercialisation of guayule, and today Bridgestone shared the results of this four-year project. The combined effort has resulted in the partners successfully assembling a specific guayule genome.
Vietnamese officials have interpreted the US Department of Commerce (DOC) anti-dumping investigation preliminary conclusions as “very positive” for Vietnam-produced car tyres. There was even hope that cooperative Vietnam-based tyre manufacturers Local newspapers read this mean Vietnamese tyre factories had been “cleared” by the investigation.
Marko Ibrahim is the new president of Bridgestone Retail Operations (BSRO), the Bridgestone Americas subsidiary responsible for operating a network of more than 2,200 tyre and vehicle service centres across the United States of America. He succeeds Joe Venezia, who led the organisation since 2017 and has stepped down to pursue a leadership role outside of Bridgestone.
Outlining Bridgestone Corporation’s Mid-Long Term Business Strategy on 22 December, chief executive officer Shu Ishibashi spoke of the company’s plans through to 2023. The immediate priority has been to implement crisis management measures to address the impact of COVID-19; Bridgestone began implementing these in 2020, and the measures extend into this year. Beyond this, Bridgestone will work to rebuild earning power within the core Tire & Rubber business.
Retreading solutions lie at the heart of Bridgestone Corporation’s new Sustainability Business Framework. Announcing details of the framework’s “retread centric model”, chief executive officer Shu Ishibashi shares that the tyre maker plans to utilise tyre monitoring technologies in order to offer customised retreads via a subscription model.
Bridgestone’s CES 2021 exhibit presents a fittingly virtual exhibit this year. During the tech-focused US Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which has been held virtually this year from 11-14 January 2021, Bridgestone is presenting its Bridgestone World interactive virtual city will allow users to explore the company’s advanced solutions and data-driven mobility services. Live and on-demand showcases will examine how the company is using smart tyre technology, advanced data analytics and new business models to put tyres at the centre of a more sustainable mobility system.
Over 80 fitments, more than 30 vehicle models, 13 car manufacturers – this is Bridgestone’s tally of new original equipment fitments for 2020. The tyre maker has summarised its OE achievements in an 80-second-long video. Steven De Bock, vice-president Consumer Replacement and OE at Bridgestone EMIA, comments that it’s “fantastic that we’ve been able to work in partnership with the world’s leading car manufacturers to meet our collective environmental goals and shape a more sustainable future of mobility.”
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
Bridgestone Corporation
S&P Global
SSH Recycling
Bridgestone Corporation
Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam [MoIT