16 investments, divestments shaping Bridgestone for 2022

When 2022 arrived, it found a very different-looking Bridgestone Corp. A leaner, more-focused Bridgestone, to be exact.

And when 2023 comes along, you can bet Bridgestone will look even different.

The Tokyo-based tire and rubber products company launched a restructuring effort in 2021 that it says will involve four stages that include both investments and divestitures. Ultimately, though, the company is looking to cut fixed costs by about $480 million by year-end 2023.

So far, the Tokyo-based company reached a deal to sell its anti-vibration business, closed a tire plant, exited the tennis goods business, sold its synthetic rubber business and marked three diversified chemical products plants for sale—and all of this was just since Thanksgiving. So there's plenty more where that came from.

Bridgestone—the No. 1 rubber products manufacturer in North America and second-largest tire maker globally, according to Rubber News data—made quite a few headlines in 2021.

Here's a quick look at some of the ways Bridgestone began its transformation in 2021.

Bridgestone on Dec. 10 said it reached an agreement to sell its anti-vibration business to Anhui Zhongding Holding Group Co. Ltd. for an undisclosed sum.

The deal is expected to close in July 2022.

So what does this mean for the big picture? Well, for Bridgestone it helps the company focus on those key areas of growth (tires and technology). Anhui Zhongding, meanwhile, gains a business that reported nearly half a million dollars in sales last year—a business with eight manufacturing sites and 3,850 employees.

By the time the new year rolls in, Bridgestone's truck/bus tire plant in Huizhou, China, will have closed. The factory is just one of two truck tire plants Bridgestone operates in the country.

Bridgestone has plans for the tire capacity lost with closures (about 4,400 per day) and intends to support its work force of about 800 employed at the Huizhou facility.

It's game, set, match for Bridgestone's tennis goods business.

Bridgestone Sport Co. intended to bow out of the business by the end of 2021, selling all of its stock of Bridgestone Technifibre Co. Ltd. to Yonex Co., a Japanese sports equipment maker.

Bridgestone Tecnifibre saw sales of $15.8 million in 2020.

Dec. 1 marked the closing of Bridgestone's deal to sell Bridgestone (Huizhou) Synthetic Rubber Co. to LCY Chemical Corp.

The Taipei-based chemicals supplier takes on a business that posted $57.7 million in sales in 2020. The purchase includes one production facility—in Huizhou—that has an annual capacity of about 50,000 metric tons of styrene butadiene rubber.

Bridgestone said late in November that it would close three of its Diversified Chemical Products Co. Ltd. facilities, bringing its total number of production plants to six.

The plants, located in China, primarily manufacture polyurethane foams for cushioning and waterproofing. Together, the facilities employ about 80 people.

Bridgestone plans to expand testing capabilities at its Americas Technology Center, adding a new test track that will feature several vehicle dynamics courses, including a long straightaway to assess lane change performance; a noise, vibration and harshness course to test ride comfort and road noise; and a wet- and dry-weather handling course.

The company said in November that it intends to completely withdraw from the belting business by 2024.

Based within Bridgestone's Tokyo headquarters, the conveyor belting operation has a manufacturing footprint in Yokohama, Japan, and Rayong, Thailand, as well as an R&D center in Kanagawa, Japan. According to the group, all the sites manufacture and develop products other than conveyor belts and, therefore, will not be closed.

Automotive seat pad production in Japan will cease by 2023, Bridgestone said in October.

Three of those production lines marked for closure are owned by Bridgestone Chemitech, the other is owned by Bridgestone Diversified Chemicals Products.

Only one facility—in Ageo—will close as a result of the decision to discontinue production of automotive seat pads. The units in Nabari, Hofu and Tosu will continue operations as they make products in addition to the padding.

At least $140 million has been set aside to modernize and expand capacity at a car and light truck tire plant in Camacari, Brazil. Bridgestone said the move will increase capacity by more than 20 percent.

Capacity at the 15-year-old factory is listed as 9,800 units a day. Employment is shown as more than 900.

Work on the expansion will begin by the fourth quarter of 2021.

Firestone Industrial Products L.L.C.'s air springs manufacturing facility in Williamsburg, Ky., is readying for the uptick in demand for its products—demand driven by the coming electric vehicle surge.

The Bridgestone Americas Inc. subsidiary is spending $50 million to increase capacity at the site, built in 1988.

Bridgestone Americas Inc. is taking a stake in a self-driving trucking company.

With its investment in Kodiak Robotics, Bridgestone gains a significant opportunity to test its smart tire technologies in Kodiak's autonomous vehicles, which are operating in Texas.

Bridgestone Americas wrapped up a trio of investments in North American tire plants this year, and the $200 million investment will bolster the tire maker for the years ahead.

With the moves, Bridgestone adds both capacity and warehouse space, much needed as the tire maker sees favorable trends on the horizon, including consumer demand for premium brands.

Eight years after reviving Dayton as a medium truck tire brand, Bridgestone opted to phase out the entry-level product line.

The brand had been retired in 2010 before Bridgestone brought it back three years later.

The tire maker in April purchased Otraco International Pty. Ltd., an Australian provider of the off-the-road tire management solutions.

Bridgestone said the move was intended to be a catalyst for growth within its mining business. The transaction, valued at $61 million, was expected to close by the end of the year.

Over the course of the next four years, the Tokyo-based tire maker plans to invest $94 million in its Shimonoseki plant.

The aim of the investment is to ensure "greener" operations, especially in terms of renewable energy and wastewater handling.

Early in 2021, Bridgestone agreed to sell its Firestone Building Products business to LaFargeHolcim Ltd. It marked the start of what would become a big year for the tire and rubber products maker.

The $3.4 billion deal officially closed in April, giving LaFarge Holcim a company that posted sales of $1.8 billion in 2020. FSBP held a 4-percent share of the global roofing market and was the fourth-largest player in the arena at the time of the sale.