Bridgestone to expand North Carolina passenger car tyre plant

North Carolina: Bridgestone Americas plans to invest around USD164 million at its Wilson passenger tyre plant. The investment is done to expand plants capacity to nearly 10% over the coming five years. Bridgestone confirmed that the investment will help the organisation to meet the market demand, as well as to invest in newer more efficient technology. 

The plant has the capacity to produce 32,000 passenger tyres on daily basis. The expansion will boost the plant’s production capacity by 3,000 tyres per day to reach 35,000 tyres per day by 2018. 

During phases one and two of the project, the investment of USD100 million will be infused in the plant. The plant will add 167,000 square feet of manufacturing space to accommodate new tyre-assembly machines, materials-handling systems, curing presses and associated equipment. The company also confirmed that the new equipment will also allow the plant to respond to the increasing global demand for higher rim size tyres, as well as improve quality and productivity while reducing cost simultaneously. 

The Wilson tyre plant is one of the two passenger car tyres plants that Bridgestone operates in the U.S. The expansion of the plant will help Bridgestone to better penetrate the tyre market in the country and increase its dealership network by strengthening its presence in the market. 

TechSci Research believes that the decision taken by Bridgestone America will not only solidify its presence in U.S.A but also provide immense opportunities for further expansion as the Company is heavily fortified for 2016 and ahead. 

The recent report published by TechSci Research, “USA Tyre Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2020” United States is the world’s second largest automobile producer and consumer. In order to address the growing demand in the domestic market, many domestic and foreign tyre manufacturers have established their presence in the country, by either setting up production facilities or strengthening their distribution networks. Additionally, the increasing tyre production capacity of Bridgestone Americas is going to give its peers a hard time in the market.