NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Bridgestone Americas Inc. is planning to close its LaVergne, Tenn., truck/bus tire plant by July 31, a decision that will impact 700 salaried and hourly employees, and undertake additional workforce reductions at its Des Moines, Iowa, farm tire plant as well as in its corporate and sales workforce.
Closing the 53-year-old factory in south-central Tennessee will remove capacity of up to 2 million truck/bus tires a year, according to data compiled by Tire Business, a sister publication of Rubber News, for the annual Global Tire Report.
Bridgestone did not comment on how much the closing might eventually end up costing nor if it intends to replace the lost capacity. Bridgestone has only one other truck/bus tire plant in the U.S., a 35-year-old factory in Morrison, Tenn.
Bridgestone did not provide details as to why the LaVergne plant was singled out for closure, stating instead that the decision to shut is related to its strategic initiatives to optimize its business footprint, strengthen its competitiveness and enhance the quality of the company’s U.S. operations
As a result, the firm said, “further optimization of its business footprint and costs become increasingly essential” in order to adapt to the challenges of the current business environment.