Bridgestone Corp. posted net sales of 1.8 trillion yen on a net loss of 27.4 billion yen during the first nine months of 2009. That compares to net sales of nearly 2.5 trillion yen on net income of 49.4 billion yen during the same period last year.
In North America, Bridgestone's sales totaled 844.9 billion yen, while income came to 22.8 billion, a decrease of 24% and 7%, respectively, from the first three quarters of 2008.
"North American tire business saw a major decline in unit sales of tires for passenger cars, light trucks, trucks and buses... because of a significant fall in demand," say Bridgestone officials. "However, there was a significant increase from the first three quarters of fiscal 2008 in unit sales of such strategic products as run-flat tires and ultra-high performance tires in the replacement sector."
Overall, Bridgestone described the first nine months of 2009 as "challenging. The economy in Japan continued to face a severe business climate, with weakened consumer spending and declines in private sector capital investment.
"Although the economic recession in the U.S. and Europe caused by the vicious downward spiral of the global economy continued, some sectors showed stablization. Economic stimulus measures implemented by some governments can be recognized as one of the drivers of this stablization. In Asia, China's business climate began recovering gradually, and although conditions remained challenging, the business climate in other regions began to show slight signs of recovery."
During the first nine months of 2009, the Tokyo, Japan-based company focused "on increasing the sales of highly competitive products, strengthening supply capacity, improving manufacturing productivity," and other measures.
