Bridgestone US factory expansion

In a statement on May 15, Bridgestone said it would make a "small investment" in its plant in Aiken, South Carolina, and improve the production efficiency of its plant in Wilson, North Carolina. After completing the capacity increase of these two plants, Bridgestone will produce 2 million more tires per year in the United States in 2027.

It is reported that both factories produce passenger car radial tires and truck and bus radial tires in areas currently affected by US import tariffs. According to data from overseas institutions, the annual production capacity of the two factories combined is about 22 million.

In addition to these two factories, Bridgestone also plans to optimize the production capacity of passenger car tires throughout North America, especially to "maximize" the capacity utilization and operating efficiency of factories in Mexico and Canada. It is reported that local factories can meet 60% of the demand for passenger car tires in the US market and 70% of the demand for truck and bus tires.

Overall, Bridgestone hopes to meet 90% of the demand for passenger car tires and 80% of the demand for truck and bus tires in the United States by increasing capacity utilization. At the same time, Bridgestone also plans to increase the proportion of local raw material procurement-80%-90% of raw materials are imported from the United States.

However, since natural rubber is not subject to tariffs, this raw material will still choose to import channels. Although Bridgestone did not report the direct impact of tariffs on its first-quarter performance in the first-quarter financial report, it is expected that the adjusted operating profit in 2025 will be affected by 45 billion yen (2.2 billion yuan). Bridgestone also pointed out that its full-year guidance did not take into account the possible impact of 20 billion yen caused by the possible economic recession in the United States. 

In fact, after the United States introduced "reciprocal tariffs" in April, almost all tire companies with production capacity in North America are improving their capacity utilization. Some are improving factory operating efficiency like Bridgestone, some have basically completed the expansion of North American factories in 2023, and some are re-arranging production capacity. 

Tire companies quietly increase production capacity in the United States
As early as 2022, Hankook Tire had begun preparations to expand its production capacity in the United States. After three years of construction, the factory is not only about to double its passenger car and light truck tire production capacity, but also has increased its truck tire production capacity by 1 million.

Goodyear also announced this year that its Lawton, Oklahoma plant will expand production-increasing the production capacity of "high-value tires" to meet the growing demand for high-end tires in North America. The new production capacity will be put into production from 2025 to 2026.

However, Goodyear did not release more detailed data on investment amounts, planning progress, and new employment. At the end of 2024, there was news that Michelin seemed to plan to invest $159 million to expand production capacity in South Carolina, USA. Pirelli is also considering expanding its US factory, and plans to invest $1 billion to expand production capacity in Rome, Georgia.

Pirelli has two tire factories in North America, located in Mexico and the United States, with a total annual production capacity of approximately 6.8 million tires, of which Mexico is the main supplier of tires in North America.

Although it is not located in the United States, in its interaction with investors, Sailun stated that its Mexican factory is expected to be put into production in the first half of this year, and the factory is expected to help Sailun further enhance its supply capabilities in the North American market.