Bridgestone has broken ground at the planned site of a new passenger car radial tyre plant in Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia.
The plant is expected to start production in the first half of 2016 of passenger car radial tyres including winter tyres for the Russia/CIS market. Capacity is estimated to reach approximately 12,000 units a day by the second half of 2018.
Kazuhisa Nishigai, COO and representative board member of Bridgestone, said: “Bridgestone is building this new plant in order to meet the demand growth with local production.”
The Russia/CIS region is a large market with a population of approximately 300m. New vehicle sales in the region have shown strong growth and demand for tyres is expected to increase.
Bridgestone has been developing operations in the region, expanding its Pole Position retail channel network.
“The construction of this new plant will enable the group to be closer to the market, and supply its products to customers in a timely manner,” it said.
Source: just-auto.com
