Bridgestone to expand tire production in Thailand

Gasgoo Motors reported that Bridgestone announced that it will invest 21.3 billion yen (about 253 million U.S. dollars) in the Nong Khae plant in Thailand for expansion.

The Nong Khae plant is a joint venture factory and Bridgestone owns 69.2% of the plant. Bridgestone plans to increase the daily production of the plant's passenger car radial tires and light-card radial tires by 13,500 to 50,000 by 2014.

The Bridgestone Nong Khae factory is located in Saraburi province, 80 km from Bangkok and covers an area of ​​660,000 square meters. The plant began producing tires in 1995 and supplied tires to Thailand's domestic market and key overseas markets such as Asia, North America and Europe.

In January 2008, Bridgestone plans to increase the daily production of tires at the plant by 6,000, which is expected to be reached by 2011. However, as global demand for automotive tires continues to rise, Bridgestone has decided to continue expanding production to meet market demand.