BRUSSELS (May 31, 2006) — Bridgestone Corp. is evaluating sites in Europe for a new plant but declined to confirm or deny published reports that it is considering a site in northwest Poland.
A Bridgestone spokesman confirmed recently that the company is in the late stages of selecting a site for a new factory, although he declined to say whether it would be for tires or other products.
The spokesman confirmed that the company is examining bids from the various short-listed sites and will select one of the locations in due course. He declined to name any other locations that might be bidding for the factory.
A report in the Polish newspaper Puls Biznesu (Business Pulse) did give a few details. The town of Stargard Szczecinski has put in a bid that it hopes will win the site selection decision. That bid involves an investment by Bridgestone of between $315 million and $375 million and is expected to create 800 direct and a further 800 indirect jobs.
Bridgestone already operates two plants in Poland—a performance tire plant in Poznan and an air springs plant in Wolsztyn—and is building a rubber track factory in Wroclaw that's due on stream in July.