Feb 1 2005
Bridgestone Corporation announced today the construction of the Bridgestone Group's third tire plant in Mexico. The plant, which will be a subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc., will be located in the city of Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo Leon. It will produce passenger and light truck tires, with a focus on the high performance, ultrahigh performance and large rim diameter segments. Investment in the new plant will total about $220 million, according to today's announcement. Operation is targeted to begin in July 2007.
The plant will feature the first installation outside Japan of Bridgestone Corporation's revolutionary BIRD production system. BIRD is the world's first production system for tires that completely automates all of the stages from initial processing of materials to final inspection of the finished tires. Its name stands for Bridgestone Innovative and Rational Development. The new plant will have a production capacity of about 8,000 tires a day and will employ more than 200 people.
The Bridgestone Group is building a global production network to respond flexibly to the continuing growth in world demand for automotive tires, and the new Mexican plant will be part of the group's global sourcing strategy. North America will be the main market for tires produced at the plant.
The new plant will be the Bridgestone Group's third tire plant in Mexico. It will complement plants that Bridgestone Firestone de México, SA de CV operates in Mexico City and Cuernavaca. The new plant will be the 49th tire plant for the Bridgestone Group, which produces tires in 23 nations.
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