Firestone has announced details of the long-term replacement for its F590FS tyre, a regular OE fitment on a number of mass-market hatchbacks and compact family cars – Including the Volkswagen Polo, Fiat’s Punto and Stilo and the Skoda Fabia, since its release in 2000.
At the beginning of February, GPX International was sued by Bridgestone over a range of tyres for forestry vehicles that the Japanese manufacturer said infringed its rights. Bridgestone accused GPX of unfairly competing by its Firestone Rock Master brand name and advertising slogans.
Following the accusations GPX published an official statement “strongly denying” the accusations, which it said were an attempt to “besmirch its reputation.” The manufacturer said it was not aware that the Rock Master name was trade marked and has voluntarily “removed all reference to Rock Master from its website and will change the name of the tyres currently produced under the Rock Master name.”
(Akron/Tire Review) New television ads supporting the recently launched consumer campaign for Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT) were revealed at the Chicago Auto Show this week.
Produced by Dallas-based The Richards Group, the commercials will air this year on national TV networks and more than 15,000 movie screens across the country. BFNAT said it will also conduct an extensive print and online ad campaign to complement the broadcast message. In addition, “Bridgestone or Nothing” ads will be displayed on the tyremaker’s fleet of customer delivery service vehicles.
(Akron/Tire Review) At the Chicago Auto Show this month, Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT) introduced the Bridgestone Turanza all-season tyre with “Serenity technology” and the Bridgestone Duravis heavy-duty light truck and commercial tyre.
Bridgestone’s Brazilian subsidiary, Bridgestone Firestone do Brasil Indústria e Comércio Ltda., has inaugurated its second Brazilian facility, approximately two years after the announcement of plans to invest in the State of Bahia. Built to meet both domestic and export demand, the 7-hectare plant will focus on the production of car and light truck tyres and is set to directly generate 500 jobs, with a further 1,200 or so jobs expected to be generated in related fields.
(Akron/Tire Review) The State newspaper in South Carolina has reported that Firestone Building Products is laying off some 52 workers at its Kingstree, S.C., roofing products plant. The layoffs are reportedly due to a downturn in commercial construction.
The plant employs 278 workers, according to The State.
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire
has added two new sizes to its North American Firestone Firehawk™ Wide Oval™ tyre range– P245/40R18 88Y RFT and P285/35R19 90Y RFT. These tyres are designed to fit Chevrolet’s sixth generation of Corvette.
(Akron/Tire Review) At the 2006 SEMA Show, a panel of international journalists presented Firestone Industrial Products Co. (FSIP) with an International New Products Award for its new Air-Rite digital air command and Red Label air springs.
A Cornish farmer owns what he believes to be the oldest set of original tyres on a working tractor. John Sweet, from St Austell, uses his 1957 Ferguson FE35 daily on his 20-acre market garden, which sports the original Firestone ‘Champion Ground Grip’ tyres it came from the dealers with half a century ago. The tyres have never been punctured and the air used to inflate them when new is still inside.
(Akron/Tire Review) Master contract talks between the United Steelworkers and Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire (BFNAT) will start later this month in St. Louis, according to USW Local 1155 President Ron Vining. Local 1155 represents workers at BFNAT’s Warren County, Tenn., radial truck tire plant.
In a letter to Local 1155 members, Vining said union negotiators will be in St. Louis Jan. 18-19 to review the recently ratified Goodyear-USW contract, with formal talks with BFNAT set to start Jan. 30.
This year’s Firestone Young Farmer of the Year Award has gone to 30-year old Cambridgeshire man James Peck. Peck, of Scotland Farm in Dry Drayton, received this distinction from the tyre maker at a ceremony held at the Grosvenor House in London late last year. He was awarded his trophy by BBC TV presenter Fiona Bruce and Barry Coleman, Firestone’s marketing manager.
With the closure of tyre factories so frequently announced, it is easy to spare little thought for the workers who suddenly find themselves without a means of supporting themselves or their families. But what does a tyre worker do when the tyre factory closes? After all, they can hardly apply for a job at another tyre factory across the road.
In the US a 33-member task force comprised of tyre manufacturers, automotive industry officials, independent experts and government have given their endorsement to a proposal to test the durability of aging tyres. This test, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) hopes to implement in 2007, will most likely involve placing tyres in a high oxygen environment and subjecting them to temperatures of up to 66° Celsius (150 degrees Fahrenheit) for periods of 8 or 10 weeks.
The final tyre has been produced at the Bridgestone/Firestone plant in Oklahoma City only eight months after Bridgestone Firestone North America announced its impending closure. The plant produced budget tyres for the low-end segment of the market, a market where demand has been shrinking in the face of vigorous overseas competition.
The tyremaker has disclosed that the Oklahoma City facility, which had a daily output of more than 26,000 tyres, recorded a loss of US$40 million (£20.5 million).
On December 8 Bridgestone Firestone North America outlined its intention to invest at least US$33 million in its Aiken County, South Carolina tyre plant in the next four years as part of plans to purchase new production facilities and retool existing equipment.
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