Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC Announces Consumer Tire Price Increases
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Dec. 1, 2009) - Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC (BATO) has announced price increases on the company’s Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand consumer tires. The price increases of up to 5 percent on certain passenger and light truck tires for both the original equipment and replacement markets will begin on Jan. 1, 2010.
“The steady increase in raw materials and energy costs made it necessary for us to take this action,” said Michael Gorey, President, U.S. & Canada Consumer Tire, BATO. “While we are successfully implementing measures at all levels of our company to enhance our efficiencies and increase our productivity, those efforts are simply not enough to overcome the escalation of raw material costs.”
About Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations:
Nashville, Tenn.-based Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) is a business unit of Bridgestone Americas, Inc., whose parent company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world's largest tire and rubber company. Reporting into the BATO business unit are the company's Latin American tire operations, the U.S. and Canadian consumer tire businesses and the U.S. and Canadian commercial tire businesses. BATO develops, manufactures and markets Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand tires. The business unit is focused on retail, wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off road, motorcycle, agricultural and other tires to its customers in the Americas. In addition, through its Bridgestone Bandag Tire Solutions unit, retreading customers have access to industry-leading research and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales expertise, providing them with a total tire solution.