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.