Who owns bridgestone corporation

The company quickly improved its quality and the business rapidly expanded both the domestically and overseas. Wartime regulations were in effect throughout Japan, which resulted in nearly all of the company's output being used to satisfy military demand. Although saw the end of armed conflict, the company had been directly impacted by the war and faced a challenge to rebuild it business operations.

The Bridgestone Tokyo Headquarters building was destroyed during an aerial bombing raid, and all of its overseas assets were lost.

Fortunately, the plants in Kurume and Yokohama escaped unscathed, and the company was able to restart production immediately after the war ended. The company overcame many obstacles and eventually emerged from the war as a stronger organization.

The Asahi plant Saga Prefecture moved its production from aircraft tyres wheel to bicycles in the aftermath of the war, and this lead to the establishment of the Bridgestone Cycle Company. In , Bridgestone was the first company in Japan to begin selling rayon cord tyres, and a five-year project to modernize production facilities was started. This year also saw another Bridgestone building opened in Kyobashi, Tokyo, which contained the Bridgestone Museum.

Sales surpassed ten billion yen in , placing Bridgestone at the top of tyre industry in Japan, and celebrations were held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the company's establishment in Kurume in Bridgestone began selling nylon tyres in To better meet the needs of an expanding automotive market, a newly constructed Tokyo plant, was opened in In , Bridgestone was listed on the stock exchange adopted a new management structure with Shojiro Ishibashi as the chairman, and Kanichiro Ishibashi as the president.

As part of the management transition, the company adopted the Deming Plan, which involves overall quality control activities. In , Bridgestone earned the prestigious Deming Prize for excellence in quality management.

Additions were built onto the Tokyo plant in to house the new Technical Center, and a progressive system of research and development was established. On the product front, saw the sale of its first passenger-vehicle radial tyre, the RD Our first overseas plant since the end of the war was opened in Singapore in , and production was also commenced in Thailand in For Bridgestone, the 60s was an era of overseas expansion that included the establishment of Bridgestone Tire Company of America in to serve as the company's U.

Bridgestone's first overseas plant since the end of the war is opened in Singapore the plant began operation as the Bridgestone Malaysia Plant in , and then changed the name to Bridgestone Singapore in Despite these challenges, during this period Bridgestone was placing even more emphasis on establishing its own technology for the manufacture of radial tyres and was building new tyre plants in Japan. The company actively continued to expand overseas. In addition to beginning production in Indonesia and Iran in , the company invested in a Taiwanese tyre manufacturer and purchased a tyre plant.

In , Bridgestone purchased a plant for manufacturing tyres and diversified products in Australia. We continually work to reduce our emissions, not only in our direct footprint, but also within the lifecycle of our products. Likewise, we have invested greatly in educating consumers on how they can conserve fuel and lengthen the useful life of their tires and vehicles through educational programs in our network of 2, company-owned retail stores.

We invite you to read our Environmental Mission Statement and learn about our company-wide efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. Stay up-to-date with the latest from Bridgestone Americas, including new products and important events from the world's largest tire and rubber company. About Bridgestone. Latest News from Bridgestone AMericas. Money was pumped in from Japan to raise productivity at the plants and to improve the quality of the tires produced there.

After two years of improving the American operation, Kaizaki returned to Japan as president of Bridgestone Corporation. Bridgestone executives believed that its U. Goodyear was chosen that year as the target company, and it reached an agreement in June with the URW. Bridgestone, however, refused to accept the "pattern" agreement. In May the URW called off the ten-month-old strike, with the workers agreeing to return to work without a contract. Nevertheless, not all of the workers were rehired immediately.

Among the provisions favoring the workers were the 4. Bridgestone won the key concession on operating the factories around the clock. Back in Japan, meanwhile, Kaizaki was trimming domestic operations to contain costs, cutting the workforce 14 percent from to The company was also in the midst of building new tire plants in central Europe and China and a plant in India scheduled to open in through a joint venture with Tata Industries.

The new factory would manufacture about 25, car and light-truck tires at its peak, and reach full employment of workers by The company needed the new plants to satisfy the increasing demand for its tires; the U.

Despite slumping sales of automobiles in Japan and other Asian nations because of the Asian economic crisis of , Bridgestone closed out the decade strongly. The company was aided by its more efficient and productive U. The balance sheet of the U. On the negative side, Kaizaki had received much criticism in Japan for his aggressive, U. The criticism of Kaizaki came to a head in March That month a Bridgestone manager who had agreed to take early retirement went into Kaizaki's office to demand that the company's personnel policies be changed.

When Kaizaki refused to change course, the manager took out a knife and committed hara-kiri. The resulting firestorm of negative publicity was only heightened by Kaizaki's failure to speak publicly about the incident for four months; when he did break his silence during a meeting with reporters, the company president came off as defiant and unfeeling.

In mid Kaizaki found himself embroiled in another crisis when reports began surfacing of possible defects in several Firestone tire models. Some of the tires, many of which had been used as the original tires on Ford Explorer sport utility vehicles, were shredding on the highway, leading to rollover accidents and more than deaths and some injuries, according to investigators with the U. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In August Bridgestone announced that its U. Bridgestone's stock nosedived, and the company was once again hurt by missteps on the public relations front: Kaizaki, as he had in the prior crisis, maintained a long public silence over the issue, and Ono, the head of the U.

Bridgestone gained control over the crisis soon after new executives were installed. In early , Shigeo Watanabe, a senior vice-president, took over the helm at Bridgestone, replacing Kaizaki. One of Watanabe's key early moves was to give Lampe more authority to make autonomous decisions concerning the crisis without constantly needing to gain approval from the Tokyo headquarters.

The two companies had more than just a business relationship: William Clay Ford, Jr. While dramatic, cutting ties with Ford represented the loss of only 4 percent of Bridgestone's total revenues.

To escape the bankruptcy of the U. He took to the airwaves, starring in television commercials that had the theme "Making It Right" to begin repairing the damaged Firestone image.

To the surprise of a number of analysts, the Firestone brand was not jettisoned but was instead retained as a mass market brand in the United States--though repositioned slightly downmarket--while the Bridgestone brand received greater emphasis as a premium brand. He also launched a cost-cutting initiative to stem the unit's sea of red ink.

Most notably, the company's plant in Decatur, Illinois, where many of the recalled tires had been made, was shut down at the end of , costing about 1, workers their jobs. The crisis meantime had a major impact on the company's U.

Despite the retention of the Firestone brand, Bridgestone began dropping that moniker from the names of its subsidiaries, with the U.

This rebranding was part of an effort to build a global corporate identity under the Bridgestone name. The remarkable turnaround at Bridgestone was evident in its results for , which included a 5 percent increase in revenues, a percent jump in profits, and the return of the U. In March Bridgestone bolstered its European operations by purchasing an Still the world's leading tire maker, Bridgestone had managed not only to survive the potentially crippling tire recall but also to return quickly to a policy of aggressive growth.

Principal Subsidiaries: Bridgestone Cycle Co.