Bridgestone Closes Plants in Australia, New Zealand

Tire manufacturer Bridgestone is getting ready to close several tire making facilities in Australia and New Zealand, as a result of the competition which has made "tire manufacturing in Australia and New Zealand increasingly difficult to the point where the operations in both countries are no longer viable," as Andrew Moffatt, Bridgestone's Subsidiary CEO told Kyodo News.

The plants being targeted for closure are Christchurch, New Zealand, which will be idled by the end of this year and Adelaide, in South Australia, which will close its gates in April 2010.

"The unfortunate reality is that Bridgestone Australia can no longer commercially justify the continued operation of these facilities,'' he added.

According to Bridgestone, the two closure of the two units will cost some 600 jobs from Australia and 275 in New Zealand, of those involved in the manufacturing process itself. The rest of the over 1,500 people employed in the manufacturer's distribution, retail and servicing operations will not be affected.

"It is our goal to help as many of our employees as possible gain alternative employment, either within the Bridgestone organisation or in the wider marketplace,'' Moffatt concluded.

The cruel competition Bridgestone is blaming for the closures may move to Europe as well, as the recent tire duty war between the US and China may force Chinese tire makers to head for the Old Continent. The worrying development does not stop Bridgstone however from hoping things will get back on track within two years.

"We will see double-digit growth in the second half of 2010," Toru Tsuda, Bridgestone Europe CEO said. "Bridgestone will be profitable at a group level in 2009 and 2010."