ISTANBUL (Oct. 4, 2013) — Turkish tire maker Brisa Bridgestone Sabancı Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. has picked a site in Aksaray Province, in central Turkey, where it plans to build a $290 million passenger tire plant, due on stream in early 2018.
Brisa—a joint venture between Bridgestone Corp. and Turkish industrial conglomerate Sabanci Holdings—said the plant would have a nameplate capacity of about 13,000 units a day, which it expects to achieve by the second half of 2022.
The company has agreed to buy a 237-acre plot in the Aksaray Province Organized Industrial Zone. Aksaray Province is roughly 140 miles south of Ankara and 300 miles southeast of Istanbul.
The plant will be the second factory in Turkey for Brisa, which was established in 1988 by Bridgestone and Sabanci to operate Sabanci's Lassa Tyres plant in Izmit. The plant in Izmit is rated at nearly 29,000 units a day of passenger, light and medium truck tires with 1,745 employees.
Brisa did not comment on the expected number of employees at the new plant.
The company disclosed just a few weeks ago it was evaluating sites for a possible second factory.
With sales in 2012 of $792 million, Brisa was ranked 37th globally, according Tire Business' 2013 Global Tire Company Rankings.
In discussing its reasons for the investment, Bridgestone noted that Turkey has a high GDP growth rate and a population of about 75 million with sound demographic composition.
This is the second major tire industry investment announced in the past few months.
Japan's Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. broke ground Sept. 18 on a $500 million joint venture car and light truck tire plant factory in Cankiri in partnership with Abdulkadir Ozcan Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., a leading Turkish tire distributor and parent of tire maker Petlas Tyre Industry & Trade Co.