Based in Japan, Bridgestone Corporation is the world’s largest tyre and rubber company.
As set out in its recently-released 2018 motorsport plan, this year Bridgestone Corporation will continue to be involved in various motorsport championships, ranging from top-level races to grassroots series contested by amateurs.
The Michelin brand’s value has grown some 30 per cent to US$7.9 billion in the latest Brand Finance Tyres 10 ranking. As a result Bibendum is now the world’s most valuable tyre brand.
Bridgestone has announced details for the 2018 Chase Your Dream Trophy with England Golf. The championship gives thousands of amateur golfers from more than 1,900 clubs the chance to advance through club, regional, and national rounds to progress to a round at the pro-am of the Bridgestone Challenge. The three overall winners teed up with Ryder Cup hero Nicolas Colsaerts at the pro-am of the British Masters supported by Sky Sports. The cup was launched alongside the manufacturer’s global Olympic partnership last year.
Audi has selected the Bridgestone Turanza T005 as original equipment for the new A7 Sportback. According to Bridgestone, drivers of the four-door coupe will have the “full 17- to 21-inch range of Turanza T005 tyres available to them.”
In the USA, Bridgestone and Firestone-branded tyres have been specified as original equipment for the 2019 Jeep Cherokee, Bridgestone Americas has announced.
The Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Plus tyre will be supplied as standard equipment on 2019 Jeep Cherokee Overland models in size 235/50 R19.
Bridgestone has signed a tyre partnership with online supermarket Ocado. The manufacturer will supply its home delivery fleet, encompassing more than 1,500 Mercedes Sprinter vans, with the Blizzak W810, which will stay on each vehicle all year round following rigorous internal testing. It is Bridgestone’s biggest UK van tyre fleet win to date.
Upon the conclusion of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, Bridgestone has declared its first global activation as a Worldwide Olympic Partner a success. It says it is now looking forward to the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in its hometown, Tokyo.
Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) and NRGene, a genomic big data solutions company, are collaborating on research efforts to enhance the company’s US alternative domestic natural rubber breeding programme. They will be working in tandem to sequence and assemble multiple genomes of guayule, a rubber-producing plant indigenous to the hot, dry environments of the Southwestern United States and North Central Mexico, to develop new, high-yielding varieties. The first-ever, two guayule genomes have already been sequenced and completely assembled and a physical and genetic map are being developed which will provide a high level of accuracy and efficiency for breeding improvement.
Consumers are increasingly likely to research their tyres online pre-purchase, regardless of whether they complete an e-commerce transaction. Peer review website Tyre Reviews has therefore become an influential destination in the car tyre market: discussing Tyre Reviews’s audience, owner, Jonathan Benson, states that 94 per cent of Tyre Reviews visitors are engaged in the tyre buying process, with its users predominantly “high earning, well educated, male automotive enthusiasts looking for the best possible product for their vehicle.” In 2017, the site delivered 25 million pageviews to tyre buyers, and claims to have influenced around “one-sixth of UK tyre sales.”
At the end of January Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (Bridgestone) announced that it is offering PressureStat, a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) launched for off-the-road (OTR) tyres in the construction, quarry, underground hard rock and port industries.
Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) and Versalis are forming a strategic partnership to develop and deploy “a comprehensive technology package to commercialize guayule in the agricultural, sustainable-rubber and renewable-chemical sectors.”
Bridgestone launched the new Turanza T005 in the second half of 2017, replacing its Turanza T001 EVO, and joining the innovative DriveGuard in covering the European car tyre market. The new tyre, which was developed and produced in Europe to offer motorists improved wet performance and fuel economy, combined with high mileage, is now available in a wide line-up that will eventually provide almost complete touring market coverage by 2019, with more than 140 sizes for 14’’ to 21’’ rims.
A new ‘Global Sustainable Procurement Policy’ has been introduced at Bridgestone Corporation, and the tyre and rubber company believes this policy will help it identify and evaluate qualified suppliers, promote best practices, and serve as a communication and improvement tool for the industry. The policy is applicable to all purchased materials and services, as well as all suppliers globally.
Bridgestone Corporation says it is ready to support the staging of the upcoming Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 through a variety of product, athlete and education initiatives in South Korea. PyeongChang is Bridgestone’s first Olympic Winter Games as a Worldwide Olympic Partner.
Stefano Sanchini has been appointed sales director for Bridgestone in the Middle East & Africa region. He joins Bridgestone from Goodyear, and although the tyre maker only recently announced his appointment, Sanchini has been with Bridgestone since August 2017.
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