Tire Factories in

Japan

Edited by

Neil Mullineux

Version 1.0

6th August 2010

Japan

Contents

! ! Introduction

! ! Summary of plants

! ! Maps

! ! Details of plants! ! ! !

Introduction

This site gives details of all known factories in the region using information from a variety of sources. The basic structure uses information from the Global Tire Report published annually by Crain Communications (Tire Business, Rubber and Plastic News, European Rubber Journal) but this has been added to by information from trade magazines, press releases and websites of the individual companies.

Organisation

The information is arranged alphabetically under four separate headings:

! Major World Companies! This comprises the three largest tire manufacturers - Bridgestone, Goodyear and Michelin. The plants are usually wholly owned but in the case of a joint venture(s) details of the other partner are given.

! Other World Companies! Eight important world manufacturers are included in this group:! ! Continental! ! Cooper! ! Hankook! ! Kumho! ! Pirelli! ! Sumitomo! ! Toyo! ! Yokohama

! Other Foreign Companies! This group comprises smaller or more specialist companies which have invested in the country, either as sole investors or as part of a joint venture.

! Local Companies! This group consists of indigenous companies. !

Maps! Some general maps for reference.

Plant details! The company is shown in blue.! The factory name or location is highlighted in purple. ! If a company has more than one factory they are shown in alphabetical order. New plants are ! highlighted in a light green wash and plants which have closed in the last five years or which ! are scheduled for closure have a pale red wash.

! The information given for each factory is mostly self explanatory

Ownership structure! The official name of the company. In the case of a joint venture (JV) both ! ! ! ! parties are shown and, if possible, their proportion of ownership.

Year plant opened! ! This can vary a lot. Usually the company has taken the question literally ! ! ! ! and given the date of the plant opening, but sometimes it gives the date of ! ! ! ! the most recent major investment.! ! ! ! !

Employees! ! ! As given by the company but subject to frequent change.

Location! ! ! Where details are given this is usually the province or state in which the ! ! ! ! plant is located. This can be found on the map. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !Tire types manufactured! Self explanatory.

Plant capacity ! ! The capacity is shown in the same format as the response given to the ! ! ! ! Global Tire Report questionnaire. However, in order to make comparison ! ! ! ! easier, this has been converted where necessary into either units or ! ! ! ! tonnes per year. These editorial calculations are shown in brackets. Where ! ! ! ! a daily capacity is given we have assumed 350 working days in a year for ! ! ! ! the purposes of our calculation.

Additional Notes! ! Any other useful information. ! ! !

Summary of plantsMajor World Companies

! Bridgestone! ! Amagi! ! Hikone! ! Hofu! ! Kitakyushu! ! Kurume! ! Nasu! ! Shimonoseki! ! Tochigi! ! Tokyo! ! Tosu! !! Goodyear! ! Tatsuno

! Michelin! ! Ota

Other World Companies

! Sumitomo! ! Izumiotsu! ! Miyakonojo! ! Nagoya! ! Shirakawa

! Toyo! ! Kuwana! ! Sendai! ! Tatsuno

! Yokohama! ! Hiratsuka! ! Mie! ! Mishima! ! Onomichi! ! Shinshira

Local Companies

! Inoue! ! Ikeda

Maps

! Japan

Details of PlantsMajor World Companies

! Bridgestone

! ! AmagiOwnership structure! ! Bridgestone CorporationYear plant opened! ! ! 1973Employees! ! ! ! 915

Location! ! ! ! Fukuoka, Kyushu Region !

Tire types manufactured! ! Truck/Bus

Plant capacity ! ! ! 11,200 u/day (3.9 mill/yr)

Additional notes

! ! HikoneOwnership structure! ! Bridgestone CorporationYear plant opened! ! ! 1968Employees! ! ! ! 1479

Location! ! ! ! Shiga, Kinki Region!

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car

Plant capacity ! ! ! 51,000 u/day (17.85 mill/yr)

Additional notes

! ! HofuOwnership structure! ! Bridgestone CorporationYear plant opened! ! ! 1976Employees! ! ! ! 838

Location! ! ! ! Yamaguchi, Chugoku Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Earthmover/OTR

Plant capacity ! ! ! 13,300 u/day (4.65 mill/yr)!Additional notes

! ! KitakyushuOwnership structure! ! Bridgestone CorporationYear plant opened! ! ! 2009Employees! ! ! ! 329 (by 2012)Location! ! ! ! Fukuoka, Kyushu Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Earthmover/OTR! !Plant capacity ! ! ! 80 tonnes/day (28,000 tonnes/yr by 2012)

Additional notes! Bridgestone has said that it considers large and ultralarge OTR radials to be strategic products. Consequently it decided to build a new plant at Kitakyushu to expand capacity. However, market demand during the building stage was such that it increased the capacity of the plant at that stage by 60% along with steel cord at the Saga plant. The manufacture of large and ultra-large OTR radials (ORR tyres) commenced during June 2009, three months ahead of the planned September start date. Originally production was not scheduled to start until 2010 but it was brought forward by a year because of the high level of demand (which had fallen away drastically by the time production did begin.) ! The total investment for the two stages will be $265 million and it is the first new tire plant opened by Bridgestone in Japan since 1976, when Bridgestone began production at its Hofu Plant. Until now, Bridgestone manufactured large and ultralarge OTR radials at its Shimonoseki Plant. Going forward, Bridgestone will continue to increase production capacity of these products, and it expects that, by the second half of 2012, the combined output of the two plants will be 30 percent higher than the current level. Site area approximately 206,000 sq. metres. ! The new plant is one of three factories dedicated to OTR tires. The others are in Shimonoseki, Japan, and Bloomington, Ill. Bridgestone also maintains some OTR capacity at plants in Puente San Miguel, Spain; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

! ! KurumeOwnership structure! ! Bridgestone CorporationYear plant opened! ! ! 1931Employees! ! ! ! 1228Location! ! ! ! Fukuoka, Kyushu Region ! ! ! ! ! !

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Truck/Bus! ! ! ! ! Agricultural! ! ! ! ! Industrial! ! ! ! ! Aircraft! ! ! ! ! Racing

Plant capacity ! ! ! 10,090 u/day (3.5 mill/yr)

Additional notes! Bridgestone appears to be cutting back on production at this plant.

! ! NasuOwnership structure! ! Bridgestone CorporationYear plant opened! ! ! 1962Employees! ! ! ! 698Location! ! ! ! Tochigi, Kanto Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Agricultural! ! ! ! ! Motorcycle! ! ! ! ! Industrial

Plant capacity ! ! ! 23,400 u/day (8.2 mill/yr)!Additional notes

The Bridgestone Proving Ground in Kuroiso City (later renamed Nasu Shiobara City)

! ! ShimonosekiOwnership structure! ! Bridgestone CorporationYear plant opened! ! ! 1970Employees! ! ! ! 599Location! ! ! ! Yamaguchi, Chugoku Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Earthmover/OTR

Plant capacity ! ! ! 300 u/day (0.1 mill/yr)

Additional notes

Bridgestoneʼs Shimonoseki Plant is the worldʼs largest plant specializing in tires for heavy-duty off-the-road vehicles. Approximately 90% of the tires produced here are shipped to such destinations as Africa, Americas, Australia and Russia. The plant is strategically located near the sea. Locating the plant by the sea is essential to directly load manufactured huge, heavy tires in the ships for smooth transportation to such destinations.

! ! TochigiOwnership structure! ! Bridgestone CorporationYear plant opened! ! ! 1971Employees! ! ! ! 938Location! ! ! ! Tochigi, Kanto Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Truck/Bus

Plant capacity ! ! ! 19,700 u/day (6.9 mill/yr)

Additional notes

! ! Tokyo

Ownership structure! ! Bridgestone CorporationYear plant opened! ! ! 1970Employees! ! ! ! 761Location! ! ! ! Tokyo, Kanto Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Truck/Bus! ! ! ! ! Aircraft

Plant capacity ! ! ! 31,300 u/day (10.96 mill/yr)

Additional notes! In late 2006 Bridgestone decided to add capacity for radial aircraft tires at its Tokyo plant, a move that would double the firmʼs output of these tires by 2011. Bridgestone said the expansion, for which it budgeted $42.3 million, was in line with its projections for global demand growth. Until this decision Bridgestone only made aircraft radials at its plant in Kurume, Japan, which also has capacity for passenger, truck/bus and racing tyres.! Production of new aircraft radial tires began in August 2008, following the completion of the facilityʼs initial phase. Once the Tokyo plant is fully completed, which will probably occur by the end of 2011, Bridgestone estimates the factoryʼs overall production capacity of new aircraft tires will be approximately 2.5 times the current level. In addition to the new tires supplied by the Tokyo and Kurume facilities, Bridgestone supplies retread tires and services through plants in North America, Europe, Asia and Japan. Bridgestone considers radial aircraft tires as strategic products and will focus on ʻaggressively increasing its presenceʼ in this growing market and expand its business by leveraging the company's competitive advantages.

! ! TosuOwnership structure! ! Bridgestone CorporationYear plant opened! ! ! 1970Employees! ! ! ! 733Location! ! ! ! Saga, Kyushu Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car

Plant capacity ! ! ! 26,000 u/dat (7.8 mill/yr)

Additional notes

! Goodyear

! ! TatsunoOwnership structure! ! Nippon Giant Tire Co Ltd! ! ! ! ! JV between Goodyear (65%), ! ! ! ! ! Toyo Tire (30%) & Mitsubishi Corp.Year plant opened! ! ! 1972. JV formed in 1985Employees! ! ! ! 200Location! ! ! ! Hyogo, Kinki Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Earthmover/OTR

Plant capacity ! ! ! 100 u/day (0.035 mill/yr)!Additional notes

! Michelin

! ! OtaOwnership structure! ! Nihon Michelin Tire Co Ltd.Year plant opened! ! ! 1964Employees! ! ! ! 380Location! ! ! ! Gunma, Kanto Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck

Plant capacity ! ! ! 12,000 u/day (4.2 mill/yr)

Additional notes! Michelin acquired majority control of this plant from Okamota Industries in 1988. It has gradually increased that proportion and now has complete control including ownership of the Riken brand. The Okamota Group's principal activity is the manufacture and sale of rubber and plastics for medical products, building materials and footwear.! In 2007, hoping to improve its responsiveness to the local market, Michelin decided to cease production of tires at the plant for export and refocus manufacturing efforts on tires for the domestic replacement and original equipment markets.The restructuring, for which Michelin took an $81 million charge against earnings, affected about 60 percent of the plantʼs output. Michelin said the unit would “adjust its production capacities accordingly.”

! In early 2010 Michelin announced the closure of the plant in July 2010 because of high production costs.

Other World Companies

! Sumitomo

! ! IzumiotsuOwnership structure! ! Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. Year plant opened! ! ! 1944Employees! ! ! ! 325Location! ! ! ! Osaka, Kinki Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Truck/Bus! ! ! ! ! Agricultural! ! ! ! ! Motorcycle! ! ! ! ! Industrial

Plant capacity ! ! ! 2700 tonnes/month (32,400 tonnes/yr)!Additional notes

A new Tire Technical Center opened in 2009.

! ! MiyakonojoOwnership structure! ! Sumitomo Rubber Industries LtdYear plant opened! ! ! 1976Employees! ! ! ! 1084Location! ! ! ! Miyazaki, Kyushu Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Truck/Bus! ! ! ! ! Agricultural

Plant capacity ! ! ! 9350 tonnes/month (112,200 tonnes/yr)!

Additional notes! Although referred to by the company as the Miyazaki plant, this factory is actually in Miyakonojo.

! ! NagoyaOwnership structure! ! Sumitomo Rubber Industries LtdYear plant opened! ! ! 1961Employees! ! ! ! 886Location! ! ! ! Aichi, Chubu Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Motorcycle! ! ! ! ! Racing

Plant capacity ! ! ! 6000 tonnes/month (72,000 tonnes/yr)

Additional notes

! ! ShirakawaOwnership structure! ! Sumitomo Rubber Industries LtdYear plant opened! ! ! 1974Employees! ! ! ! 1203Location! ! ! ! Fukushima, Tohoku Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Truck/Bus! ! ! ! ! Earthmover/OTR! ! ! ! ! Industrial

Plant capacity ! ! ! 10250 tonnes/month (123,000 tonnes/yr)!Additional notes

! Toyo

! ! KuwanaOwnership structure! ! Toyo Tire & Rubber Co Ltd.Year plant opened! ! ! 1979Employees! ! ! ! 950Location! ! ! ! Mie, Kinki Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Truck/Bus! ! ! ! ! Industrial

Plant capacity ! ! ! 6700 tonnes/month (80,400 tonnes/yr)

Additional notes

! ! SendaiOwnership structure! ! Toyo Tire & Rubber Co Ltd.Year plant opened! ! ! 1965Employees! ! ! ! 1200Location! ! ! ! Miyagi, Tohoku Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Truck/Bus! ! ! ! ! Industrial! ! ! ! ! Racing

Plant capacity ! ! ! 6200 tonnes/month (74,400 tonnes/yr)!Additional notes

! ! Tatsuno! ! ! JV with Goodyear. See Tatsuno.

! Yokohama

! ! HiratsukaOwnership structure! ! Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd.Year plant opened! ! ! 1952Employees! ! ! ! naLocation! ! ! ! Kanagawa, Kanto

Tire types manufactured! ! Aircraft

Plant capacity ! ! ! 16 tonnes/month (192 tonnes/yr)!

Additional notes! Yokohama Rubber has been manufacturing and selling aircraft tyres, both new and retreaded, to the Japanese military and to Japanese domestic airlines since 1940. However the company decided to withdraw from this business.in 2009. The decision was taken as aircraft tire sales constitute only a minor part of Yokohama Rubberʼs entire business, and do not offer strong future growth potential.! Product deliveries were wound down by the end of 2009, and after sales follow-up services will stop during 2010. Yokohama Rubber estimated its aircraft tire sales to be approximately 800 million yen ($8.2 million) in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009.

! ! MieOwnership structure! ! Yokohama Rubber Co Ltd.Year plant opened! ! ! 1944Employees! ! ! ! 927Location! ! ! ! Mie, Kinki Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Truck/Bus

Plant capacity ! ! ! 5900 tonnes/month (70,800 tonnes/yr)!Additional notes

Total site area 264,000 sq.metres.

! ! MishimaOwnership structure! ! Yokohama Rubber Co LtdYear plant opened! ! ! 1946Employees! ! ! ! 536Location! ! ! ! Shizuoka, Chubu Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck! ! ! ! ! Racing

Plant capacity ! ! ! 14.0 mill/yr!Additional notes

!

Total site area 112,000 sq.metres

! OnomichiOwnership structure! ! Yokohama Rubber Co LtdYear plant opened! ! ! 1974Employees! ! ! ! 228Location! ! ! ! Hiroshima, Chugoku Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Earthmover/OTR! ! ! ! ! Industrial

Plant capacity ! ! ! 0.11 mill/yr

Additional notes! Total Site Area 193,000 sq metres

! ! ShinshiroOwnership structure! ! Yokohama Rubber Co LtdYear plant opened! ! ! 1964Employees! ! ! ! 870Location! ! ! ! Aichi, Chubu Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Passenger car! ! ! ! ! Light truck

Plant capacity ! ! ! 3.1 mill/yr

Additional notes! Yokohama tripled capacity for high-performance tyres at this plant in 2009, spending $83 million to do so. Annual capacity at the 3-year-old plant rose to 3.1 million units in 2009 from 1 million.

Total site area 88,300 sq.metres

Local Companies

! Inoue! ! Ikeda! ! http://www.irc-tire.com/Ownership structure! ! Inoue Rubber Co Ltd (INOAC Corporation)Year plant opened! ! ! 1961Employees! ! ! ! 100Location! ! ! ! Gifu, Chibu Region

Tire types manufactured! ! Motorcycle

Plant capacity ! ! ! 0.3 mill/moonth (3.6 mill/yr)!Additional notes