On April 12, 2013, Bridgestone Corp. concluded an investment contract with co-investor Mitsubishi Corp. to build a passenger car radial tire plant in Russia.
Both companies collaborated with the Ulyanovsk Oblast government and Ulyanovsk Region Development Corp. to construct the facility in the Zavolzhye Industrial Zone in Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia.
The new facility will be Bridgestone's first tire plant in the Russia/CIS region. The plant will be operated by Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing C.I.S. LLC (BMCIS), a tire manufacturing company jointly established by Bridgestone and Mitsubishi. Bridgestone will have 90% equity ownership, and Mitsubishi will have 10%.
Total investment by both companies in the project will be $.4 billion (RUB 12.5 billion), and production is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2016. Production items will be strategic products centered on winter tires for the Russia/CIS market. Production capacity is estimated to reach 12,000 units a day by the second half of 2018.
The Russia/CIS region is a large market with a population of 300 million. New vehicle sales in the region have shown strong growth, and demand for tires is expected to increase in the future.
Bridgestone says it is building this new plant in order to meet this demand growth with local production. The Bridgestone Group has previously taken steps to further develop its operations in the region, such as expanding the Pole Position retail channel network. The construction of this new plant will enable the Group to be closer to the market, and supply our products to our customers in a timely manner.
