Bridgestone to invest R700m in Brits plant
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trade and Industry Correspondent
BRIDGESTONE, the world's largest manufacturer of tyres and other rubber products, is investing about R700m to upgrade and expand its tyre manufacturing plant in Brits, in North West.
Bridgestone SA vice-president of sales and marketing Shaun Wustmann said yesterday that the upgrade positioned the facility for future exports.
The investment signalled Bridgestone of Japan's confidence that the South African operation could produce tyres of global quality and at the right price, said Wustmann.
The Brits plant produced passenger, light commercial vehicle and truck steel belt tyres for the local market.
But the extended plant would produce run-flat tyres that would find their way overseas as they were fitted on BMW SA's export models.
The new-technology run-flat tyres enable motorists to drive for long distances after tyre punctures.
Bridgesone SA's Japanese parent has already invested R210m in improvements at the Brits plant over the past two years.
A further R450m would be spent in the next three years.
The R700m investment takes the Japanese company's investment in its South African operation to R1,5bn. This includes the original purchase of Firestone SA by Bridgestone Japan
Bridgestone SA chairman and CEO Takashi Wada said the latest investment would create about 70 new jobs in the short term.
It would extend Bridgestone SA's capacity by about 26%.
The Brits plant would become one of only three Bridgestone plants in the world with the technology to produce run-flat tyres.
The other plants are in Japan as well as Poland.
Profile Group (Pty) Ltd. has taken care in preparing all information on this website, but does not accept any liability for errors or out-of-date information.
