Bridgestone to hike truck, bus tire capacity at 3 sites

TOKYO (Aug. 11)—Bridgestone Corp. will invest $76 million over three years to expand production capacity for radial truck and bus tires at three plants in Japan and one in Thailand to support growing global demand for the products. In Japan, Bridgestone said it will spend $17 million at its Amagi, Tochigi and Tokyo factories through year-end 2004 to expand production capacity by 1,300 tires a day by the end of 2004. Bridgestone also will boost the capacity of its facility under construction in Chonburi, Thailand, to 5,000 tires a day by year-end 2006. The plant is scheduled for startup in the second half of 2004, with a capacity of 2,500 tires a day. The second-phase expansion will cost about $59 million, taking total investment in the Thai facility to more than $200 million, Bridgestone said. All told, Bridgestone is committing more than $750 million to capacity expansions worldwide through year-end 2006.