gaisha burijisuton type public company kk traded as tyo 5108 fse 5108 otc pink brdcy industry auto and truck parts founded kurume fukuoka japan 1 january 1931 ; 85 years ago 1931 01 01 founder shojiro ishibashi headquarters kyobashi tokyo japan area served worldwide key people shoshi arakawa chairman masaaki tsuya ceo products motor vehicle tires revenue 3.024 trillion 2011 operating income 191.32 billion 2011 profit 102.97 billion 2011 total assets 2.677 trillion 2011 total equity 1.165 trillion 2011 number of employees 139 822 subsidiaries firestone website www.bridgestone.com bridgestone corporation kabushiki gaisha burijisuton tyo 5108 otc pink brdcy is a multinational auto and truck parts manufacturer founded in 1931 by shojiro ishibashi ishibashi sh jir in the city of kurume fukuoka japan . the name bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of ishibashi meaning stone bridge in japanese . as of 2015 the company is the largest manufacturer of tires in the world slightly ahead of michelin . 1 bridgestone group had 141 production facilities in 24 countries as of 2005 . contents 1 history 1.1 origins 1.2 challenges during and after world war ii 1.3 technological innovation 1.4 radial tires and overseas expansion 1.5 firestone purchase 1.6 fined 425 million for price fixing 2 bridgestone s global locations 2.1 australia 2.2 europe 2.3 north america 3 sports sponsorships 3.1 formula racing 3.2 sports car and touring car racing 3.3 motorcycling 3.4 yachting 3.5 other sports 4 diversified products 4.1 industrial products 4.2 bridgestone commercial services group bandag 4.3 bicycles 4.4 bridgestone aircraft tire 4.5 golf products 5 bridgestone e reporter 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit origins edit head office in tokyo . the very first bridgestone tire was produced on 9 april 1930 by the japanese tabi socks tyre division actually made jika tabi . one year later on 1 march 1931 the founder shojiro ishibashi made the tabi socks tyre division independent and established the bridgestone tire co. ltd. in the city of kurume fukuoka prefecture . bridgestone was named after the name of the founder shojiro ishibashi ishi stone bashi bridge . 2 foregoing dependence on european and north american technology the bridgestone tire co. ltd. set its eyes on manufacturing tires based solely on japanese technology . the fledgling company experienced many difficulties in the areas of technology production and sales in the early days . eventually improvements were achieved in quality and manufacturing processes which led to the business rapidly expanding on both the domestic and overseas markets . challenges during and after world war ii edit wartime regulations were in effect throughout the whole of japan and tires also came under the jurisdiction of these regulations . this resulted in nearly all of the company s output being used to satisfy military demand . 1945 saw the end of armed conflict but the company was devastated by the war . the tokyo headquarters was destroyed during an aerial bombing raid and all overseas assets were lost . fortunately the plants in kurume and yokohama escaped unscathed and production was able to resume immediately after the war ended . brushing aside the problems caused by a labour union strike that lasted for forty six days the foundations of the company were further reinforced after this . after world war ii bridgestone started manufacturing motorcycles but its main income was from supplying tires to its rival motorcycle makers such as honda suzuki and yamaha and it was later decided to cease motorcycle manufacturing . technological innovation edit cross section of a tire in 1951 bridgestone was the first company in japan to begin selling rayon cord tires and a five year project to modernize production facilities was started . this year also saw another bridgestone building opened in ky bashi tokyo which contained the bridgestone museum . sales surpassed ten billion yen in 1953 placing bridgestone at the top of the tire industry in japan and celebrations were held to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the company s foundation in kurume . the sale of nylon tires was started in 1959 and work forged ahead with the construction of the new tokyo plant which was opened in 1960 in order to cope with the fast expanding market for motorization . radial tires and overseas expansion edit the company issued shares and was listed on the stock exchange in 1961 and moved across to a new system of administration with shojiro ishibashi as the chairman and kanichiro ishibashi as the president . as part of the transition across to administrative reform the deming plan in honour of w. edwards deming which involves overall quality control activities was adopted and the company was awarded the prestigious deming prize in 1968 . 3 also additions were built onto the tokyo plant in 1962 to house the new technical centre and a progressive system of research and development was established . on the product front 1967 saw the sale of the company s first ever radial tire the rd10 . bridgestone s first overseas plant since the end of the war was opened in singapore in 1965 and production was also commenced in thailand in 1969 . the 1960s for bridgestone was an era of overseas expansion that also included the establishment of bridgestone america in the united states in 1967 to act as bridgestone s usa representative sales branch . at the start of the period of japan s economic stagnation brought about by the first oil shock the company was placing even more emphasis on establishing its own technology for the manufacture of radial tires and it was also at this time that further domestic plants were constructed and fitted out . its super filler radial was placed on the market in 1978 and in 1979 the company introduced the high performance potenza radial tire from an italian word for power . citation needed the company was actively engaged in overseas expansion activities at this time . in addition to starting up production in indonesia and iran in 1976 it also invested in a taiwan tire manufacturer and purchased a tire plant and a plant for diversified products in australia in 1980 . the founder shojiro ishibashi died on 11 september 1976 . on 1 march 1981 the company celebrated its 50th anniversary . at the same time the company initiated activities to strengthen its home base that supported overseas expansion strategy with the aim of being ranked as one of the world s top three manufacturers of rubber products . new production facilities were also established in thailand india poland china the united states and other countries . the company changed the name from bridgestone tyre co. ltd. to bridgestone corporation in 1984 . firestone purchase edit in 1988 bridgestone purchased the firestone tire and rubber company of akron ohio . placing considerable financial and personnel resources into rebuilding firestone after the purchase bridgestone achieved surplus annual profits for the year 1992 with bfe bridgestone firestone europe and again in 1993 with bfs bridgestone firestone usa . the firestone tire and rubber company and bridgestone tire company ltd usa were amalgamated in 1990 and became bridgestone firestone north american holdings ltd . the north american subsidiary to bridgestone corporation is now named bridgestone americas inc. the tire division is bridgestone americas tire operations llc . bridgestone americas opened a 100 million technical center in akron in 2012 . fined 425 million for price fixing edit in february 2014 bridgestone agreed to a 425 million fine imposed by the united states department of justice for price fixing and bid rigging in the automotive parts industry . the company said it regretted the actions that led to the plea deal and said it would take disciplinary action against certain employees . 4 bridgestone s global locations edit bridgestone has major manufacturing plants in many countries around the world . as of 1 april 2011 bridgestone has 47 tire plants 29 tire related plants 19 raw materials plants 89 diversified product plants 4 technical centers and 11 proving grounds globally . 5 some of the major plants are located in europe americas asia oceania middle east africa belgium argentina australia south africa france brazil china until 2019 cameroon from 2020 hungary canada india kenya from 2023 italy costa rica indonesia poland mexico japan portugal united states taiwan spain venezuela thailand turkey colombia vietnam belarus from 2026 bolivia from 2027 myanmar from 2021 estonia from 2024 puerto rico from 2025 south korea from 2022 australia edit bridgestone australia began as the sa rubber mills in 1939 . in 1980 bridgestone took over the australian plants which were at that time operated by the uniroyal tire company . bridgestone australia 6 had a major manufacturing tyre factory in australia located in salisbury south australia this plant was eventually decommissioned in april 2011 . bridgestone has state offices in all states of australia and has a large number of retail outlets across the country . in 2000 bridgestone australia ltd purchased the bandag retreading plant and its operations in australia . bandag manufacturing pty limited 7 has 35 franchised dealers across australia new zealand fiji papua new guinea and noum a. bandag manufacturing pty limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of bridgestone australia limited and operates under license to bandag incorporated . 8 in 2006 bridgestone purchased bandag incorporated which is now a subsidiary of bridgestone corporation . from the purchase in 1981 the australian operations of bridgestone have been run as a publicly listed company on the australian stock exchange . bridgestone corporation has maintained a majority share holding . as of mid 2007 the australian operation was delisted from the australian stock exchange and became a solely owned division of bridgestone corporation pending minority shareholder approval as per australian corporate law . following the cancellation on friday 11 may 2007 of all shares held by minority shareholders bridgestone australia ltd. became a wholly owned subsidiary of bridgestone corporation of japan . the selective capital reduction and subsequent privatisation which cost 49 million was approved and completed . bridgestone australia ltd was delisted from the asx on 30 may 2007 . europe edit bridgestone eu has its head office in brussels belgium and was set up in 1972 . there are 7 production plants in the region and a 32 hectare research and development centre near rome italy . the company distributes more than 25 million tyres a year through 17 national sales subsidiaries and 2 distributors . they directly employ over 12 000 people with mr. tsuda as the ceo . at present there are national headquarters in the following locations vienna austria ; prague czech republic ; hinnerup denmark ; vantaa finland ; fresnes france ; bad homburg germany ; athens greece ; budapest hungary ; dublin ireland ; milan italy ; moerdijk netherlands ; oslo norway ; warsaw poland ; alcochete portugal ; madrid spain ; sundsvall sweden ; spreitenbach switzerland ; and warwick uk . bridgestone eu runs a continent wide scheme called truckpoint wherein fleets can take their vehicles to any bridgestone approved garage throughout europe and get bridgestone specialist work carried out on their tyres . there are no bridgestone factories in the uk but there is a technical bay at which tyres returned by dissatisfied customers are inspected in coventry . north america edit as part of reinforcement plans the company purchased a plant in tennessee from the firestone tire and rubber company its first manufacturing plant in north america and started the production of radial tires for trucks and buses in 1983 . bridgestone also has a steel cord plant in clarksville tenn. named bridgestone metalpha . metalpha is currently ranked as the top provider in the global steel cord market . in may 1988 a takeover bid of america s no. 2 tire manufacturer akron ohio based firestone was successful and firestone was placed under the bridgestone umbrella as a subsidiary company . this purchase brought