Country Tire Automotive Bridgestone Summer and Winter Tires
BRIDGESTONE®A LITTLE HISTORY
The very first
Bridgestone tire was produced on 9 April 1930, by the Japanese "Tabi" Socks Tyre
Division (actually made jika-tabi). One year later on 1 March 1931, the founder, Shojiro
Ishibashi, made the "Tabi" Socks Tyre Division independent
and established the Bridgestone Tire Co., Ltd. in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka
Prefecture. "Bridgestone" was named after the name of the founder,
Shojiro Ishibashi (Ishi = Stone, Bashi = Bridge).
Foregoing dependence
on European and North American technology, the Bridgestone Tire Co., Ltd. set
its eyes on manufacturing tires based solely on Japanese technology. The
fledgling company experienced many difficulties in the areas of technology,
production and sales in the early days. Eventually, improvements were achieved
in quality and manufacturing processes which led to the business rapidly
expanding on both the domestic and overseas markets.
n 1951, Bridgestone
was the first company in Japan to begin selling rayon cord tires, and
a five-year project to modernize production facilities was started. This year
also saw another Bridgestone building opened in Kyōbashi,
Tokyo, which contained the Bridgestone Museum. Sales surpassed ten billion yen
in 1953, placing Bridgestone at the top of the tire industry in Japan, and
celebrations were held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the company's
foundation in Kurume.
The sale of nylon
tires was started in 1959, and work forged ahead with the construction of the
new Tokyo plant, which was opened in 1960, in order to cope with the
fast-expanding market for motorization.
On 1
March 1981, the company celebrated its 50th anniversary. At the same time, the
company initiated activities to strengthen its home base that supported
overseas expansion strategy with the aim of being ranked as one of the world's
top three manufacturers of rubber products. New production facilities were also
established in Thailand, India, Poland, China, the United States and other
countries. The company changed the name from Bridgestone Tyre Co., Ltd. to
Bridgestone Corporation in 1984.
In
1988, Bridgestone purchased the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio. Placing considerable financial
and personnel resources into rebuilding Firestone after the purchase,
Bridgestone achieved surplus annual profits for the year 1992 with BFE (Bridgestone
Firestone Europe) and again in 1993 with BFS
(Bridgestone Firestone USA). The
Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and Bridgestone Tire Company Ltd USA were
amalgamated in 1990 and became "Bridgestone Firestone North
American Holdings Ltd". The North
American subsidiary to Bridgestone Corporation is now named Bridgestone
Americas, Inc. The tire division is Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC.
Bridgestone Americas opened a $100 million technical center in Akron in
2012.
SOURCE FROM wikipedia
