TOKYO—Brisa Bridgestone Sabanci Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Bridgestone Corp.'s Turkish affiliate, has reached an agreement with Aksaray Province Organized Industrial Zone to acquire a site in Turkey to build a new passenger car radial tire plant.
The new plant will be built on a 237-acre plot about 140 south of Ankara and300 miles southeast of Istanbul. It is scheduled to begin operation in January, 2018 and reach a production rate of approximately 13,000 tires per day by the second half of 2022. The total investment related to the plant is estimated at $282.2 million.
Brisa is a joint venture of Bridgestone Corp. and Sabanci Holdings A.S., a Turkish industrial conglomerate. The JV was established in 1988, using Sabanci's existing Lassa tire assets as a base.
The plant will be the second factory in Turkey for Brisa. The plant in Izmit is rated at nearly 29,000 units a day of passenger, light and medium truck tires with 1,745 employees.
The Brisa plant in Izmit, Turkey is rated at nearly 29,000 units a day with 1,745 employees.
With sales in 2012 of $792 million, Brisa was ranked 37th globally, according to Rubber & Plastics News' 2013 Global Tire Company Rankings.
In discussing its reasons for the investment, Bridgestone noted that Turkey has a high GDP growth rate and a population of about 75 million with sound demographic composition.
This is the second major tire industry investment announced in the past few months.
Japan's Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. broke ground Sept. 18 on a $500 million joint venture car and light truck tire plant factory in Cankiri in partnership with Abdulkadir Ozcan Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., a leading Turkish tire distributor and parent of tire maker Petlas Tyre Industry & Trade Co.