Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) today announced that it will make strategic investments to expand capacity in three passenger car tire plants in Japan: the Hikone Plant, the Tosu Plant, and the Tochigi Plant. These are the main production bases for high rim diameter (HRD)*1 tires for passenger cars in the premium segment. The collective investment will be approximately ¥27 billion with expansion scheduled to start from the beginning of 2025 and be completed by the end of 2028. This strategic investment is expected to increase total production capacity across the plants in Japan by approximately 3,000 tires per day, mainly for tires 20 inches and larger, for which demand is expected to grow.
Bridgestone is accelerating its focus to reinforce its premium tire business for passenger cars with “Dan-Totsu2 products”. This enhancement and expansion of its production capacity is part of its strategic investment outlined in Mid Term Business Plan (2024-2026). It is designed to equip “ENLITEN3″, its base technology for product design, which the company positions as “The New Premium in the EV Era.” Additionally, this initiative aims to strengthen and expand its global production of “ultra” HRD*4 tires for passenger cars. The company positions Japanese manufacturing as the core of its global operations. By enhancing Japan’s R&D manufacturing power, the company aims to further strengthen its earning power and global competitiveness.
In strengthening the premium tire business for passenger cars, Bridgestone is accelerating value creation through the fusion of “ENLITEN”, the base technology for pursuing “ultimate customization” in product design, and the “Bridgestone Common Modularity Architecture (BCMA)*5”, the base technology for manufacturing and R&D. BCMA is designed to reduce operational business cost and environmental impact across the entire value chain by simplifying development and production process. For the consumer replacement tire business where a tailwind in HRD tire demand continues, Bridgestone is promoting the development of “Dan-Totsu products” equipped with “ENLITEN” technology. For the original equipment tire segment, the company is reinforcing the approach to premium vehicle model/OEMs, prestige OEMs and premium EVs to connect to replacement business recursion and the adoption of EVs.
Through the reinforcement of the premium tire business for passenger cars, Bridgestone strives to achieve the corporate commitments of “Extension: Committed to nonstop mobility and innovation that keeps people and the world moving ahead,” and “Ease: Committed to bringing comfort and peace of mind to mobility life” described in the “Bridgestone E8 Commitment*6.”
