Bridgestone

This Japanese rubber company originated from a shoe company. Japanese entrepreneur Shojiro Ishibashi's ingenious move to focus on the production of accessories for the newly expanding automobile field made his company one of the most widely used brands in the rubber industry.

About Bridgestone Corporation

Bridgestone has been on the rise recently, giving the company more room to improve its technology and expand its reach; today Bridgestone employs around 140,000 people in 25 countries. In Japan, it has long been the hegemon in tyre production, but in 2006 Bridgestone overtook other giants Michelin and Goodyear to become the world's largest tyre manufacturer. The company's growth is evidenced by the fact that its products are now sold to more than 150 countries around the world.

History

Bridgestone's origins date back to 1931, when successful Japanese entrepreneur Shojiro Ishibashi changed the scope of his company from manufacturing rubber-soled work boots to passenger car tyres. He was well aware of the potential of the newly proliferating automobile and made an excellent guess that he could quickly turn a profit on the production of essential car accessories. During the Second World War, the company ran into trouble because, like all other industrial plants, it was very closely controlled and influenced by the Japanese authorities. After the war, however, the automobile industry expanded again, and Ishibashi and his company benefited. By the early 1950s Bridgestone, named after the English translation of its founder's name, was already the largest tyre manufacturer in Japan. In the following years, the company sought to establish itself in the international market and therefore began to expand its products to neighbouring countries with liberal markets, i.e. the USA, Taiwan, Indonesia and Australia. In 1976, the founder Shojiro Ishibashi dies and the outside world expects the company to fall, but this does not happen and Bridgestone is set to rise again. In the late 1980s, the company was bought by Firestone Tire & Rubber Company. This company allowed Bridgestone to manufacture its products in facilities across America and Europe, allowing it to move into the elite of the rubber products industry. In 2006, Bridgestone even became the largest tire manufacturer in the world.

Operations

Bridgestone joins the global trend of road safety, which it aims to achieve with its Run Flat technology, which ensures the tyre remains controllable even when pressure is lost. In addition to passenger car tyres, Bridgestone is also involved in racing tyres, supplying its tyres to competitions around the world, including F1 and MOTO GP. It is currently the only company to supply a tyre to the Formula 1 series.