Bridgestone, the Japanese tire manufacturer, has decided to no longer produce and market commercial vehicle tires in China. It has chosen to focus more resources on the high-performance passenger vehicle tires market, as it seeks to prioritize enhancing its profitability and operational efficiency in an effort to compete against local manufacturers. The company’s Chinese subsidiary, Bridgestone (China) Investment, will no longer market truck and bus tires within the first half of this year. The production of these tires was shut down in January by Bridgestone (Shenyang) Tire, a subsidiary that manufactures the commercial vehicle tires.
This decision was made by Bridgestone in order to counter the hardships it faces in the tire market in China, which features aggressive price competition. With China accounting for less than 3% of its total sales, the move is not expected to have a large impact on Bridgestone’s consolidated financial performance. The decision by Bridgestone shows that it is ramping up efforts to focus only on areas where it can compete, which at present is the high-performance tire segment for passenger vehicles.
