“We at Bridgestone Americas are very proud of this new venture,” said Mark Emkes, chairman and CEO of both Bridgestone Americas Holding and subsidiary Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire. “Opening this plant in Monterrey, an ideal location to serve our customers, is an important component of the Bridgestone group’s global sourcing strategy to meet the needs of our customers now and in the future.”
The $200 million passenger and light truck/SUV tire plant will have an initial capacity of 8,000 tires per day. It is Bridgestone’s 47th tire plant worldwide and its third in Mexico.
Bridgestone officials claim that the company’s BIRD tire production system (Bridgestone Innovative and Rational Development) “is the world’s first production system for tires that completely automates all stages of tire manufacturing, from the initial processing of materials to final inspection of the finished product.”
Bridgestone is building another BIRD-based plant in Hungary, due to open next year.
