Bridgestone opens new plant in Russia
A ceremony to mark the start of production at a new Bridgestone passenger car tyre plant was held yesterday in Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia. Volume production will commence in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Based in Japan, Bridgestone Corporation is the world’s largest tyre and rubber company.
A ceremony to mark the start of production at a new Bridgestone passenger car tyre plant was held yesterday in Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia. Volume production will commence in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Bridgestone has taken a minority shareholding in French tyre retailer Pneus à bas prix. Details of the exact stake the tyre maker has acquired or how much it paid have not been released, however Bridgestone states that the new arrangement reinforces its presence in France and complements the company’s First Stop and Speedy retail operations.
Bridgestone has announced Swedish NHL hockey star Alexander Steen of St Louis Blues as its Swedish product ambassador at a showcase for the manufacturer’s new studded Noranza 001 winter tyre. The Noranza 001 has been developed to perform on icy surfaces, following intensive customer research before the tyre was manufactured. The event, hosted at The Ice Bra, Stockholm, included a detailed presentation on the Noranza from Bridgestone Sweden’s sales manager Fredrik Adlerstam.
The Tosu and Hikone plants – two of the ten tyre factories that Bridgestone operates in Japan – have received 2015 Supplier Quality Excellence Awards from the General Motors Company. The vehicle manufacturer officially handed Bridgestone the awards at a ceremony held at the Tosu plant on 18 August. This is the first time that the two plants have received a GM Supplier Quality Excellence Award.
Bridgestone is working with Don Law XJ220 in the UK to develop a new generation of tyres for the legendary Jaguar XJ220.
The original collaboration in the development of the tyres for the XJ220 is well documented. However, tyres of the size required for the car went out of production some years ago.
With children going back to the classroom and rush-hour traffic resuming, Bridgestone has urged motorists to take extra care on the school-run. The tyre manufacturer said that the latest TyreSafe research suggests that 10 million vehicles could be driven with at least one tyre under the minimum legal limit of 1.6mm. Coupling this with the new school term and an expected spike in traffic and Bridgestone believes that the time has never been more critical to carry out some simple tyre checks – or even drive to a selected garage to get a professional technician to take a look.
Two Worldwide Olympic Partners are collaborating to expand the scope and impact of Transforma, the official education programme of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. With support from Bridgestone Corporation and The Dow Chemical Company, the Rio Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games has extended Transforma so that it now reaches some 7 million students in more than 12,000 schools across 2,500 cities and towns in Brazil.
Turkish joint venture tyre maker Brisa Bridgestone Sabancı Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. – or Brisa, as it is more commonly known – intends to primarily utilise a US$150 million long-term loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and $160 million from a syndicated loan transaction arranged and coordinated by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) for the greenfield factory it is now building in Anatolia. A portion of the financing will also be directed towards the expansion of Brisa’s truck and bus tyre plant in Izmit.
In addition to celebrating the 50th anniversary of the opening of its car and light truck tyre factory in Joliette, Canada, last Thursday Bridgestone Americas officially broke ground on expansion work at the plant. Upwards of CAD$300 million (£178.1 million) will be invested over a period of five years and will see the installation of new equipment installed at the Joliette site that will lift production capacity by 3,000 tyres per day to a total of 20,000 tyres a day by 2023.
Gloucester based CM Downton has extended a 10-year partnership with Bridgestone until 2020, declaring the tyre manufacturer’s commitment to fleet uptime is reaping rewards. It added that its decision to switch to a pence-per-kilometre (PPK) agreement is already paying off.
Bridgestone has become the first Founding Partner of a new digital platform dedicated to the Olympic Movement. The tyre maker signed a collaborative agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) yesterday to confirm its support of the Olympic Channel, a platform that gives fans the opportunity to experience the power of sport and the Olympic Movement all year round. The Olympic Channel will launch worldwide on Sunday 21 August following the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games Rio 2016. Bridgestone has committed to this partnership for a four-year period.
Following the launch of its Reifen 2016 Innovation Award winning runflat tyre for almost every car fitted with TPMS, Bridgestone has added the DriveGuard Winter. The extended mobility and safety benefits enjoyed by drivers fitting the DriveGuard have been given a new seasonal dimension, with the technology now available in a winter tyre. Bridgestone adds that, like the summer version, the DriveGuard Winter offers high standards of cold weather performance.
Following the acquisition of all necessary approvals on 28 July, Bridgestone EMEA has completed the 100 per cent acquisition of fast fit network Speedy France. Bridgestone EMEA announced its plan to acquire the French retail chain on 30 May 2016.
The European Commission has approved the joint venture proposed by Bridgestone and German tyre firm Pneuhage Management GmbH & Co. The approval granted under the EU Merger Regulation sees Pneuhage Management GmbH & Co. KG and Bridgestone Deutschland GmbH take joint control over Pneuhage Partners Group GmbH & Co. KG. Bridgestone Deutschland, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Europe NV/SA, will acquire 25 per cent of the shares in Pneuhage Partners; Pneuhage Management already holds a 75 per cent share.
At the end of this year, Gary Garfield will retire as chief executive officer, president and executive chairman of Bridgestone Americas. He leaves the company on 31 December 2016 after a career at Bridgestone that spans a quarter century. He will also retire from his position as executive vice-president and executive officer of parent company Bridgestone Corporation, effective 31 August.
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