Bridgestone to Seek Larger Share of Radial Tire Market

Hoping to follow in the path set by makers of electronics equipment and automobiles, Bridgestone Corp., Japan’s largest tire producer, announced on Thursday a major expansion into a market still dominated by American firms.

At press conferences in Tokyo and Torrance, its U.S. headquarters, the tire manufacturer unveiled plans for a $70-million expansion of its factory in La Vergne, Tenn., near Nashville, to produce radial tires for passenger cars in North America.

Kazuo Ishikure, president of Bridgestone’s U.S. operations, said the company aims to produce 2 million passenger radials a year by the time the buildup is finished in the early 1990s. The tire maker currently makes radials for trucks and buses at its sprawling Tennessee site, which has a 34-acre plant under one roof .

The firm is the latest Japanese manufacturer to expand production within North America at a time when the strong yen has greatly increased its costs of exporting goods to the United States.

“Bridgestone had to do something to compete,” observed William B. Whitney, editor of Tire Review, an industry publication.

The expansion makes Bridgestone the first company to produce Japanese-brand radials for passenger cars in the United States, although Sumitomo Rubber Industries of Japan owns Dunlop, a Buffalo, N.Y., firm once owned by British interests.

Bridgestone, the world’s third-largest tire manufacturer, has made limited inroads into the competitive U.S. tire market since purchasing the Tennessee plant four years ago. It holds 2% to 3% of the $7.3-billion tire replacement market for passenger cars, trailing such companies as Goodyear, Firestone, Michelin and Sears.

Bridgestone has had greater success in sales of radials to trucks and buses, winning 12% of that market, according to a statement the company released Thursday. Bridgestone officials said they hope to start the new production next year.