For Bridgestone, 2025 will begin with changes within the company’s senior management. This minor personnel reshuffle includes the addition of new management functions as well as the naming of new leadership within existing roles.
Under what it calls a “historic investment,” Bridgestone EMEA will increase production capacity, particularly for 18-inch and larger rim diameters, at its Burgos passenger vehicle tyre manufacturing site in Spain. The company intends to invest up to 207 million euros in a project that aims to “raise tyre manufacturing to the highest level of excellence and sustainability.”
The implementation of Bridgestone Corporation’s new global management structure, as announced earlier today, is accompanied by numerous changes in job title and responsibilities. All management changes mentioned here take effect 1 January 2024.
Bridgestone has extended its Turanza tyre portfolio into the all-season segment with the launch of the Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6. This successor to the Weather Control A005 EVO is designed for electric and ICE vehicles and will be available in 85 car and SUV sizes for 16- to 21-inch rims, a range covering 96% of high-rim demand in the touring all-season segment.
The Bridgestone factory in Rome, Italy has become the company’s first tyre plant worldwide to achieve International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS certification. The plant gained certification at the beginning of September thanks to its use of bio-circular and circular-based materials. Bridgestone EMIA says it will expand the assessment programme to further European plants from 2023.
Two key agendas influenced Bridgestone’s decision to get involved with the World Solar Challenge (WSC). Alongside a desire to promote sustainability, the tyre maker viewed the event as an opportunity to make contact with young innovators. One such innovator was Lex Hoefsloot, whose team from Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands achieved WSC class wins with their Stella solar vehicles on four occasions. These victories became the starting point of a relationship between Hoefsloot and Bridgestone that continues to this day and will see Bridgestone Turanza Eco tyres fitted to the world’s first commercially available long-range solar electric vehicle later this year.
All electricity consumed in Bridgestone’s European locations now comes from renewable sources. The tyre maker reports that all its European tyre plants, the European R&D Centre and Proving Ground in Rome, Italy, its pre-cured retreading materials plant in Lanklaar, Belgium, textile plant in Usansolo, Spain, and Bridgestone EMIA headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, are now powered by electricity from 100 per cent renewable sources.
Improving a tyre’s wear efficiency by up to 30 per cent while decreasing rolling resistance by up to six per cent without affecting any other performance area sounds like a tall order. But Bridgestone says that it has achieved this together with partners Arlanxeo and Solvay. The three firms presented Techsyn, the fruit of two years of collaboration, during an online presentation this afternoon.
At the start of 2021, the Potenza Sport will take over from the Potenza S001 as the flagship of Bridgestone’s tyre range. Bridgestone says the new ultra-high-performance tyre possesses “excellent capabilities in both the dry and wet” as well as higher mileage potential than its predecessor. All 96 dimensions in the Potenza Sport range have an EU label ‘A’ grade for wet grip.
Bridgestone has launched its first-ever all-season tyre for the light truck segment. The Duravis All Season has a robust and durable construction, for longevity and reduced downtime periods. It also has A-grade wet grip on the EU tyre label, alongside Three Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) and Mud and Snow (M+S) certification. Bridgestone says the tyre targets both small and large fleets looking to maximise business efficiency on the same tyres year-round.
Firestone has launched the Winterhawk 4 winter tyre – the next generation of the Bridgestone brand’s flagship winter tyre line. The tyre targets cars and on-road SUVs at a mid-range, value price. Firestone says its Winterhawk 4 tyre has been engineered for optimal control and handling in cold and unpredictable conditions. The manufacturer states that the new tyre offers improved traction on snow and ice at around 7 per cent better than the Winterhawk 3. Braking distances on wet winter roads are 4 per cent shorter too.
Bridgestone has launched the Weather Control A005 EVO tyre, the second generation of its all-season touring tyre. The tyre is designed to meet the needs and expectations of European drivers, built using Bridgestone’s advanced, high silica NanoPro-tech compound technology. Its new mixing technology that improves silica dispersion. This allows the A005 EVO to offer enhanced fuel efficiency alongside improved winter performance. Like its predecessor, the Weather Control A005, Bridgestone’s new EVO edition has been designed to deliver year-round control, safety, and convenience, reengineered to offer additional performance benefits.
Bridgestone Corporation has announced several executive leadership changes in its Americas and Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMIA) regions, following the appointment of Shuichi Ishibashi as new CEO. The company said the changes reflect its “commitment to thoughtful succession planning” focusing on its global growth agenda.
Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (Bridgestone EMEA) will implement several changes to its leadership structure next month in conjunction with and complementary to the global leadership changes recently announced by parent company, Bridgestone Corporation. The changes take effect 16 September and are part of a broader succession platform designed to cultivate global leaders throughout the enterprise.
Bridgestone has appointed Ulf Harring as its chief operating officer (COO) for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, effective 1 September. Harring will be responsible for manufacturing, logistics and supply chain management, procurement, quality, environment, health and safety (QESH) and IT.
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Stephen Goodchild / Tyre Industry Publications Ltd
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