Bridgestone global CEO and representative executive officer Shu Ishibash unveiled the “Solutions for your journey” catchphrase that will carry the company’s evolution to the future.
Future plans towards 2050 include offering more than tyres with a move into “diversified products”, the company said.
The plans come as Bridgestone in Australia is constructing a new corporate office in Adelaide and a new state office and warehouse in Victoria.
Bridgestone’s new business strategy framework looks at the medium-to-long term and outlines three main goals: sustainability as a competitive advantage and core to all aspects of its business; create a new platform to support the mobility ecosystem; and grow into a mobility solutions business.
The new platform will be called Bridgestone T&DPaaS (Bridgestone Tyre and Diversified Products as a Solution).
One of the first products to be launched under the new framework is the environmentally-friendly Enliten Technology that debuts in a Turanza Eco tyre for the Volkswagen ID.3 EV, now in production in Germany.
Enliten claims to allow tyre construction to suit EV demands, including being 20 per cent lighter than a conventional tyre and with 30 per cent less rolling resistance, both ideal to make the car lighter and extend the battery range.
It will be made in 18-inch, 19-inch and 20-inch sizes with the two larger tyres equipped with run-flat technology to further reduce car weight by negating a spare wheel.
To meet the sustainability goal within its strategy, the Enliten technology uses 2kg per tyre less raw materials than a conventional tyre.
Mr Ishibashi said: “The introduction of Bridgestone’s ‘Solutions for your journey’ tagline signals our company’s ongoing transformation to the world and communicates our long-term vision to be a sustainable solutions company.”
“We consider this moment to be a ‘Third Foundation (Bridgestone 3.0)’ in our company’s history, with the ‘Original Foundation (Bridgestone 1.0)’ being in 1931 when Bridgestone was established in Tokyo.
Volkswagen ID.3
“The ‘Second Foundation (Bridgestone 2.0)’ was in 1988 when Bridgestone merged with the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company.
“We are excited for the future as Bridgestone advances to offer world-class mobility solutions that deliver increased value for our customers and society.”
The “Solutions for your journey” tagline will replace the existing Bridgestone brand tagline, “Your Journey, Our Passion”.
The company will begin leveraging the new tagline in the second half of 2020 with a full-scale launch planned for the first quarter of 2021. It will be used in markets where Bridgestone has sales and manufacturing operations.
Bridgestone Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is a global company known for its tyres but also makes industrial rubber and chemical products and sporting goods that are marketed in more than 150 countries.
In the Asia Pacific region, Bridgestone has its regional headquarters in Singapore. The company is building a new Australian headquarters in Adelaide that is expected to be completed later this year.
It is also building a new state office, warehouse and flagship commercial store in Victoria.
The development is in Truganina in Melbourne’s western suburbs and will replace the current site at Derrimut.
Work is underway on the 25,000 square metre development which, when completed in the second quarter of next year, will be Bridgestone’s hub of commercial, wholesale and retail operations for Victoria and Tasmania.
The company said that this new site sits within a major commercial precinct in which major logistics providers such as Toll will have a presence “highlighting Bridgestone’s focus on customer centricity”.
The on-site Bridgestone Service Centre will have five passenger-vehicle bays for fleet and retail customers, a wheel alignment bay, plus four truck bays and a truck wheel alignment bay.
By Neil Dowling
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