Bridgestone Planning to Realign its Firestone Brand

United States: Firestone brand is being realigned by Bridgestone Americas with the addition of four new tires, along with introduction of new tire sizes in Fusion line, by 2017. The expected launch of new products would cater to SUV / CUV / light truck segments. The company unveiled the new tires during the Consumer Tire Business Meeting at Nashville, Tennessee.

Further, Bridgestone has already enhanced around 56% of its Firestone brand product portfolio with the introduction of the new tires during last year. The new tires include All-Season, Transforce AT2, Winterforce 2 and 2 UV and Destination MT/2.

The new tires by Bridgestone would be available in their initial sizes, from March 2017. Also, these tires are inclined with a 65,000-mile limited treadwear warranty for passenger sizes and 55,000 miles in CUV sizes. The new Transforce AT2 has been added to replace the Transforce AT in the light truck segment, which has a comparatively, deeper tread pattern coupled with an “innovative tread-to-road contact footprint”. The new light truck tires would be available in 16 sizes, ranging from LT215/85R16 and LT265/60R20 by April 2017.

On the other hand, the Destination MT/2 is designed for off-road usage and would replace the current Destination product line. The new Destination MT/2 has an aggressive upper sidewall lugs and bolder tread pattern, to boost the toughness of the tire.

Besides that, the Winterforce 2 / Winterforce 2 UV, is a winter tire, which is inducted with open shoulders and a cold-weather tread compound. The Winterforce 2 would be available in 52 varied tire sizes from July 2017.

As per TechSci Research, by introducing new tires for different usages, Bridgestone is trying to revamp its Firestone brand in the United States tire market. The new tires are installed with advance features and targets a large pool of consumers in the country. Also, the launch of technically upgraded tires, is anticipated to generate a relatively huge demand for Firestone brand in coming period in the United States, consequently, infusing the market share of the company in the United States tire market.

According to a recent report published by TechSci Research, “United States Tire Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2021’’, Increasing automobile sales paired with increasing vehicle fleet are expected to drive the country’s tire industry through 2021. Moreover, growth in the country’s tire industry is backed by increasing sales volume of different vehicle segments, which is resulting in expansion of replacement automotive fleet in the US. The country’s automobile sales, comprising passenger cars and commercial vehicles, grew from around 13 million in 2011 to about 17.47 million units in 2015.