Bridgestone Will Expand OTR Tire Portfolio in 2022
“We will expand our current portfolio to provide new patterns and sizes for key segments like quarry, underground and construction,” says Rob Seibert, president of OTR for Bridgestone Americas Inc.
“You can expect a new construction radial line-up soon and some enhancements for our quarry customers, as well.”
Seibert and Brian Douglas, executive director of OTR tire sales, Bridgestone Americas, provided updates about the company’s OTR business during its recent consumer and commercial tire meeting.
“Our global team is working hard to deliver a strong production plan,” says Seibert. “You will see continued inventory improvement each month. Ensuring we have products for future growth starts at our plants with added capacity.
“We will meet increased product demand in 2022 thanks to our new capacity in the U.S. and in southeast Asia.”
Bridgestone opened a new OTR tire plant in Thailand during 2019 that is focused on smaller OTR tires and is supplying products for North American consumption.
“This will allow us to grow our radial sales and will allow us to focus on domestic manufacturing or the products you need right now. In 2021, we completely refreshed our mining haulage line-up, using exciting new technologies to increase payload and speed.”
“We’re differentiating ourselves by offering technology and a superior distribution network,” said Douglas. “This allows us to deliver the best possible experience."
Confidence among OTR tire end users “is up,” Seibert told dealers. “And regionally, every market is up year-over-year. Momentum will build. With this said, we've been working proactively to make sure we can support this strong replacement market for you.
“We have realigned our regions to streamline conversations and make faster decisions and we continue to work with strategic accounts, leveraging your best-in-class service capabilities. We have seen share growth in certain categories (of) up to 7%.”
About the Author
Mike Manges
Editor
Mike Manges is Modern Tire Dealer’s editor. A 28-year tire industry veteran, he is a three-time International Automotive Media Association Award winner, holds a Gold Award from the Association of Automotive Publication Editors and was named a finalist for the prestigious Jesse H. Neal Award, the Pulitzer Prize of business-to-business media, in 2024. He also was named Endeavor Business Media's Editor of the Year in 2024. Mike has traveled the world in pursuit of stories that will help independent tire dealers move their businesses forward. Before rejoining MTD in 2019, he held corporate communications positions at two Fortune 500 companies and served as MTD’s senior editor from 2000 to 2010.

