POZNAN, Poland—Bridgestone Corp. is investing more than $182 million to expand and upgrade its tire production facility in Poznan.
The investment, to be carried out through to 2022, will involve modernizing and optimizing the existing manufacturing lines, a translated version of an Aug. 7 Bridgestone statement said.
When completed, the expanded facility in Poznan, which sits on about 64 acres, will see an increase in daily tire production from 31,000 units to 40,000 units, according to Roman Staszewski, managing director of Bridgestone Poznan.
Bridgestone also intends to increase warehouse capacity at the facility.
The expansion in Poznan initially was part of a $297 million, five-year expansion plan that was unveiled earlier this year in Europe and aimed at enhancing product-mix both in terms of brands and sizes.
One of the most advanced Bridgestone tire plants, the Poznan factory produces premium tires, high-performance tires, run-flat technology tires and "ologic" low-rolling-resistance tires. It supplies tires to leading original equipment manufacturers including Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, Maserati, Porsche and Mercedes, and is the only Bridgestone facility to manufacture soundproof B-Silent and B-Seal tires.
In October, Bridgestone said it planned to invest $315 million at three of its European tire manufacturing operations, with the goal of increasing the plants' ability to produce sophisticated, high-quality tires, and raise output capacity by about 20 percent. In addition to Poznan, Bridgestone said it planned to upgrade plants in Stargard, Poland, and Burgos, Spain, by early 2022.
The upgrades would include the installation of the "most advanced production technology available" in autonomous vehicle systems and high-capacity machinery.