TOKYO (Oct. 30, 2013) — Bridgestone Corp. is planning to boost capacity for radial car tires at its Wuxi, China, plant by nearly 31 percent, with an investment of $140 million over three years.
Bridgestone said the increase, to about 22,600 tires a day, is in response to rising Chinese demand for passenger tires, especially for high-performance radials.
The tire maker did not say how the expansion would affect employment, which stands at 1,267, or the size of the 3 million-sq.ft. facility, which opened in July 2004.
The factory operates as Bridgstone (Wuxi) Tire Co. Ltd.
This is third expansion at Wuxi since it opened in 2004.
In August 2011 Bridgestone announced an $87.4 million investment to boost capacity there by a third to 16,300 tires, and in 2009 it disclosed a $98 million project to boost capacity by nearly 54 percent to 12,000 units daily.
Bridgestone originally budgeted $99 million in 2003 to build the plant, in Jiangsu Province about 75 miles west of Shanghai. It opened with a daily capacity of 8,000 units.