Bridgestone Corporation announced today that its European subsidiary, Bridgestone EuropeNV/SA (BSEU), has resolved to build a plant in Poland to produce radial tyres for trucks and buses. Approximately €200 million (¥28 billion*1) has been earmarked for the project.
The new plant in Poland will be operated by a wholly-owned subsidiary of BSEU planned for establishment there. Construction will begin in the first half of 2007, with production expectedto get underway in the first half of 2009. Production capacity is projected to be around 5,000tyres a day.
At the announcement Takashi Urano, Chairman, CEO & President of Bridgestone Europe said “This is an important step towards making our European supply chain less reliant on tyres imported from outside Europe”.
This will be Bridgestone’s second truck and bus radial tyre plant in Europe following the Bilbao Plant in Spain. Securing another truck and bus tyre production site will enhance the company’s degree of self-sufficiency in the region and contribute to the creation of a strategic
product supply system.

In addition to the Poznan Plant in Poland, which is already in operation, and a facility in Hungary currently under construction, the new plant will be the company’s third tyre plant in Eastern Europe. The new plant will be the 51st plant in Bridgestone’s global production
network for tyres, which spans 24 nations, including Brazil, Mexico, China and Hungary.
Outline of new truck and bus radial tyre plant in Poland

1. Planned location: Stargard Szczeciński city suburbs, Zachodniopomorskie province, Poland
2. Planned start of production: First half of 2009
3. Site: About 100 hectares
4. Product: Radial tyres for trucks and buses
5. Investment: About €200 million (about ¥28 billion*1)
6. Production capacity: About 5,000 tyres/day in the first half of 2011
7. Ownership: Bridgestone Europe NV/SA 100%
*1: €1 = ¥140 (reference value)