Bridgestone to Close Italy Passenger Tire Plant

Bridgestone Corp. announced that Bridgestone Europe will close its passenger car tire production facility in Modugno (Bari), Italy. The plant is fully owned by Bridgestone Italia S.p.A., a 100% subsidiary of Bridgestone Europe.

The Bari plant is one of eight Bridgestone tire plants in Europe – the other facilities are located in Spain, France, Poland and Hungary.

“The decision follows an in-depth analysis of the structural changes which have taken place over the last two years in the tire market both in Europe and globally,” Bridgestone said in a statement, adding that “this decision will not have any effect on the other existing Group entities in Italy, one of the key markets in Europe, including Bridgestone Technical Centre Europe S.p.A. near Rome and the sales office of Bridgestone Italia S.p.A. in Agrate Brianza (Monza).

“According to independent external sources and in-depth analysis, the overall EU tire segment for cars went down by 13% (in 2012) in comparison with 2011 and no recovery to pre-2011 volume is foreseen before 2020,” Bridgestone stated. “The only segment with positive forecasts is the Premium.”

In response to these dynamics, Bridgestone Europe is reprioritizing its production to focus on the premium segment of the market.

The Bari Plant, which produced tires “considered of general use,” carries high logistic and energy costs, Bridgestone said. “Despite repeated efforts to overhaul the Bari Plant in order to meet these new challenges, it is to be regretted that given the structural decrease in demand, and the shift towards premium products, when combined with the factors already mentioned relative to other Bridgestone Europe plants, have left the company with no other choice than to proceed with the closure of this site.”

The tiremaker said operations at the plant, which employs 950 workers, will shut down in the first half of 2014.