Bridgestone Consolidates Manufacturing Footprints in China

Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) has consolidated its manufacturing footprints of truck and bus radial tires in China. Bridgestone has been considering manufacturing footprint restructuring globally, including tire, diversified product and material manufacturing sites, over a mid-long term in order to rebuild the company’s earning power, the company said.

This initiative is a part of the Mid-Term Business Plan (2021-2023), aiming to rebuild earning power to allow the company to enhance strategic growth investment. By executing these strategies, Bridgestone is transforming to a “strong” Bridgestone capable of adapting to the changing business environment, the company said.

The overview of the consolidation is as follows:

The Bridgestone Group has optimized its manufacturing footprints of tires, which is the Group’s
core business, in order to support the needs of society and customers in every period of its 90 years
history since its foundation, Bridgestone said.

Based on the philosophy mentioned above, Bridgestone considered thoroughly and comprehensively, including optimization of tire manufacturing in China, maintaining and increasing competitiveness, and impact to the local communities, based on the Mid Term Business Plan (2021-2023). Thus, the Company decided to close BSHZ and consolidate production of truck and bus tire into BSSY. For employees and local communities who will be affected by the closure of BSHZ, Bridgestone is taking appropriate actions to minimize the impact as much as possible, following local laws and regulations, as well as labor agreements. For customers and suppliers, Bridgestone maintains to provide products and services with high quality mainly from BSSY, but also from other sites in other regions, the company said.

The Bridgestone Group said it will reinforce its portfolio management in line with the changing business environment, to evolve to a sustainable solutions company that aims to continuously provide social value and customer value.

Bridgestone expects the impact on its consolidated financial results for 2021 to be minor, the company said.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has named Ryan Waldron as president of the company's Americas business unit, reporting to Chief Executive Officer and President Mark Stewart. He succeeds Steven R. McClellan, who retired on April 1.

"At Goodyear, our customers are at the center of everything we do, and in Ryan Waldron, we have a customer-centric, execution-focused business leader with a deep understanding of both the marketplace and all aspects of our business, as well as a proven track record of delivering results," Stewart said. "I am thrilled to announce him as president of Goodyear's Americas business and have enormous confidence that under his leadership, both the company and our customers will reach even greater levels of success."