Bridgestone Corp. plans to establish in-house companies for mining and agricultural machinery on Jan. 1, 2016. Until now the functions of mining and agricultural machinery have been separated by region and product type. By integrating them from the perspective of customers, Bridgestone seeks to increase its customer orientation and enhance the expansion of its solutions business globally. The in-house companies...
Tires
New Yokohama Rubber TB Tire Plant in U.S. Begins Operations
A new truck and bus (TB) tire plant run by The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd.’s (President: Hikomitsu Noji) U.S. tire production subsidiary Yokohama Tire Manufacturing Mississippi LLC (YTMM, President : Tadaharu Yamamoto), has been fully operational since October. This is the first time Yokohama Rubber has constructed a plant in the U.S. from square one. Total investment (Phase 1) in...
Bridgestone Creates Tire Using Guayule Rubber
Bridgestone Corp. has completed a tire that utilizes natural rubber derived from guayule rubber. The completed tire is one in which over 99 percent of the para-rubber-tree-derived natural rubber, which is conventionally used for side-walls and treads, has been replaced with guayule-derived natural rubber. Although Bridgestone admits that “there are factors that require further study such as wear resistance, steering...
Yokohama Rubber Improves Aerodynamic Tire Technology
The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. is improving the aerodynamic technology of tires that control the flow of air around the tires as they are operating. They are developing technology which contributes to vehicular air resistance reduction as well as reduction of vehicular lift that occurs when the vehicle is operating. By implementing this technology, tire development can be expected to...
Michelin: Regarding the Direction of the Japanese Branch
Michelin Group is now in its 51st year after expanding its tire business to Japan in 1964. In addition, Nihon Michelin Tire Co. Ltd. has reached its 40th year since its establishment in Japan. Japan Michelin President Bernard Delmas, whose tenure as president spans 8 years, said about the present situation in the Japanese market, “Although Japan’s systems of distribution are...
Yokohama Corporate Officer Says Tire Price Competition Is Heating Up
At a tire technology study meeting held for the media and analysts, The Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd.’s Corporate Officer Masaki Noro said that “There is a slight global surplus of tires, and price competition is heating up. Yokohama Rubber will overcome this situation by cutting costs, of course, and we will also specialize and differentiate product performance.” To increase tire...