Nashville, Tenn. (Sept. 15, 2005) - Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) and Bridgestone Firestone Canada Inc. (BFCA) have jointly announced price increases on the companies’ Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton, associate and private brand tire lines. The announced increases, up to 8 percent on passenger and light truck, truck and bus, and agricultural and off-the-road tires, will affect the replacement, original equipment and export channels. The price increases are scheduled to take effect beginning November 1.

According to Duke Nishiyama, President of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc., parent company of BFNT and BFCA, “Our tire companies are facing dramatic increases in raw material costs. The astronomical increases in petroleum prices are driving up the cost of synthetic rubber and carbon black. That, combined with rising natural gas costs and natural rubber prices, has given us no choice but to take this action. Unfortunately, these dramatic raw material cost increases simply can not be offset by the enhanced efficiencies and increased productivity that we have implemented at all levels of our company.”