Bridgestone to close LaVergne tyre plant
Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone Corporation announced it plans to close its tyre manufacturing plant in LaVergne, in the US state of Tennessee, as part of its strategy to 'optimize the company's business footprint, strengthen its competitiveness and enhance the quality of the US operations.'
Bridgestone built the LaVergne plant in 1971. It currently produces radial tyres for trucks and buses, employing approximately 700 hourly workers and staff. Bridgestone Americas confirmed that the plant will cease operations at the end of July 2025, with the company also planning to reduce capacity and the workforce at its Des Moines agriculture tyre plant in Iowa.
Bridgestone, which took over US tyre manufacturer Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in 1988, pointed out that it has invested in new, more modern tyre manufacturing facilities in the US in the last few decades, including in Warren County, Tennessee, and Aiken County, South Carolina. The company said it remains committed to contributing to society, the economy, and the mobility of people and goods across the US.
Bridgestone said it has been updating and optimising its US business footprint recently, including its national headquarters, the technology center in Akron, Ohio, its Bandag retreading sites and its sales and service network including 2,200 retail stores.
The company said in a statement: 'While adapting to the challenges of the business environment as Bridgestone continues to strengthen its core premium tyre business and sustainably create social and customer value, further optimization of the business footprint and costs becomes increasingly essential. Therefore, the decision to close the LaVergne plant has been made.'
Bridgestone Americas president, Scott Damon, stated: 'Decisions like this are not easy because of the impact they have on our teammates and their families, and at the same time we are optimizing our business footprint for the future. We are confident that this decision will strengthen our core business, enabling us to operate more efficiently.'
The company also said it is 'undertaking business rebuilding activities' in Latin America, including 'cost optimization efforts along with reductions in workforce and production capacity at its facilities and business operations in Argentina and Brazil.'
"Bridgestone to close LaVergne tyre plant" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.
The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Toyota future models 2025-2035 (part 1)
Having the largest model array of any brand means that Toyota is also planning and spending on a grand scale. Its range of vehicles available in the Japanese, US, Chinese and European markets is vast. This first of two reports looks at highlights of the global line-up and what should replace them, along with certain potential additions. A tiny player in teeny cars, Toyota competes in Japan's Kei segment with the aged Pixis series plus the Copen GR Sport. Volume is so small that it would not be surprising if Daihatsu has no plans to supply new equivalents when it replaces the originals. Even smaller than the Japanese market minis is a future rival for the Citroën Ami, Opel Rocks and Fiat Topolino. Previewed by the FT-Me at a special event in Toyota Motor Europe's HQ city of Brussels three months ago, the prototype was 2.5 m long. Production numbers would not be large. As for where it would be manufactured, TME is not saying (Stellantis builds its triplets in low-cost Morocco). A longer nose for the Aygo X: bigger engine coming One size up, namely the European A segment, could not be more of a contrast. The Aygo X is a big deal and plays a major part in keeping its maker the regional number two brand. The little hatchback is to be facelifted later this year, while the base 1.0-litre engine will be replaced by a hybrid powertrain. A successor should arrive in 2028 and again built at the Kolin factory in the Czech Republic. Big in Japan and again, Europe too, the Yaris and Yaris Cross are huge sellers. The first of these two was revealed in 2019 so the replacement will debut by 2026. Edgy styling has worked well for the hatchback and that will surely also feature next time around. The Cross should therefore gain a radical look when it is rebodied in 2027. Corolla & Camry: still big in the PRC and the USA Why the current E210 series Corolla has reached seven years of production is perplexing. Certainly the car sells incredibly well, especially in the USA though China and Europe are other major markets. TMC has gambled that it could extend the life of E210 and this has (so far) paid off but a new model cannot now be far away. Facelifted for the 2025 model year in April 2024, the Camry remains a big seller in North America. There is a lot of demand for sedans of this size in the USA, as Kia, for example, has been discovering. The K5 has gone from just over 9,000 sales during the first five months of 2024 to just shy of 29,000 in 2025 (quite the contrast to what's happening with its EV6 and EV9). Sedans of this size also do incredibly well in China; the Camry and Accord especially. Many were stunned by TMC's decision to break with the tradition of introducing a new model every five to six years, the XV80 series car being merely a restyle of XV70 which debuted in 2017. For this reason, a truly fresh Camry might appear as soon as 2026 or 2027, possibly bringing with it an EV option for the first time. Gazoo Racing: MR-2 and Celica returning? A revival of the Celica is also planned for next year or 2027, the car differing greatly from what Honda is planning for its Prelude reprise. Several generations of these models were once competitors. Whereas the latter is to be a hybrid, the Toyota should instead be powered by G20E. A high-output 2.0-litre turbo, this engine premiered at the Tokyo Auto Salon in January. Motorsports being fundamental to the Gazoo Racing sub-brand, TMC may even return to world championship rallying with the Celica. Meanwhile, G20E should also feature in a new MR-2, the mid-engined sports car being expected to debut in 2028. Will there also be a new 86? Apparently yes, is the surprising answer. While the USA continues to be the present model's number one market, even there, only around 11,000 were sold in 2024. The timing of any follow-up is yet to be confirmed. Given how few of its own variant have been produced, it would be surprising if Subaru was again involved. Yet that raises the question of a production plant, not to mention engine, gearbox and platform. A new Supra: really? As with the Hachi Roku, it seems strange to think that a case could be made for another Supra but it seems that there will indeed be one. Akio Toyoda is especially keen to continue making GR-branded models, linking them to the company's racing activities. Even though Supra production is about to end, a 'V8 Supracar' will be entered in Australia's much-watched V8 Supercars series next year. A full-size model was revealed at the famous Bathurst race last October with a working prototype surely certain to be revealed at this year's event. But what will power it, and what will be the basis of the next production model? A possible future Supra might have a Lexus (or BMW) V8 rather than a BMW straight-six turbo. There are even whispers of TMC potentially tapping Mazda for both platform and engine. It is worth noting however, that no camouflaged cars have been seen testing in Japan or elsewhere. Half the size of BYD in China but still a big player Number four behind BYD, VW and Geely, Toyota remains a major force in China. With more than half a million locally manufactured passenger vehicles delivered year to date, the brand is way ahead of next placed Wuling. Unusually, four models all do a fairly similar amount of sales volume, these being the Camry, Corolla and RAV4, along with the Front Lander, a special vehicle for the PRC. Relatively weak in EVs, Toyota is nonetheless catching up fast: in only its second month on the market, deliveries of the new bZ3X exceeded 6,000 units. This low-priced electric 4.6 m long SUV is a JV with GAC, whereas its bZ3C crossover brother is part of a three-way alliance with FAW and BYD. The life cycles of both models should be six-seven years so a next generation bZ3X would be due in 2031/2032 after a facelift in 2028 or 2029. Will a big electric sedan do better than China's VW ID.7? Another EV in the bZ series is coming in 2026. Developed specifically for China by GAC-Toyota, the bZ7 will be a large sedan. A 5m+ long prototype debuted at Auto Shanghai in April. This model will be positioned above the bZ5, production of which has just commenced in Tianjin. The platform is eTNGA. A six-year lifecycle can be presumed so a facelift is due in mid-2028. FAW-Toyota developed the bZ5, premiering it at Auto Shanghai in April. The 4,780 mm long electric SUV evolved out of the bZ3C and bZ Sport Crossover concept prototypes. It features a 200 kW motor along with (BYD-owned) FinDreams 65 kW and 74 kWh Blade batteries. Sales are off to an especially strong start, helped greatly by pricing which commences below 130,000 yuan or circa 18,000 US dollars. Hydrogen fuel cells & Solid-state batteries TMC refuses to give up on hydrogen. The current Mirai has been greatly admired though for all the usual reasons with fuel cell vehicles, production ticks along fairly slowly. A replacement is coming in 2028, part of a venture with BMW AG. All-Solid-State-Batteries are also another fledgling technology which continues to be worked on quietly. TMC does not see itself selling tens of thousands of ASSB-equipped EVs annually until the 2030s. The company continues to work with Idemitsu Kosan, an oil refiner, in developing such cells packs, initially for the Japanese and Chinese markets. Lexus future models 2025-2035 "Toyota future models 2025-2035 (part 1)" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
CNBC
3 hours ago
- CNBC
Safe haven rush begins after Israel strikes Iran
Investors fled to safe-haven assets Friday after a series of Israeli airstrikes on Iran marked a major escalation of conflict in the region. The scale of the attack, which Israel said was targeting Iran's nuclear program, took markets by surprise, pushing up prices of assets thought to offer protection in times of heightened volatility. "The news has led to significant fears about an escalation and a wider regional conflict," Deutsche Bank strategists said in a note early Friday. "The effects of the attack have cascaded across global markets, with a strong risk-off move for several asset classes." Gold hit an almost two-month high on the news, although pared some gains as the morning progressed. Spot prices of the metal were up 1.1% at $3,420.24 at 7:42 a.m. London time. Gold futures for August delivery were 1.3% higher at $3.446. U.S. Treasury prices also rose, pushing yields lower. Yields on the 30-year, 10-year and 2-year Treasury notes were all down around 3 basis points. European stocks are poised to open sharply lower, meanwhile, with U.S. stock futures also falling. Investors flee to safe-haven assets during times of uncertainty to protect their money from volatility and find stability when risk assets tumble. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country had launched a "targeted military operation" against Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program. Iran said it launched around 100 drones targeting Israel in retaliation. "This operation will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat," Netanyahu added. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the attack on Israel was "unilateral" and made without U.S. support. "We are not involved in strikes against Iran and our top priority is protecting American forces in the region," Rubio said in a statement. In currencies, the U.S. dollar, Swiss franc and Japanese yen — all considered safe havens — rose. After a tricky few months following policy uncertainty sparked by the Trump administration, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major peers, was 0.36% higher. The Swiss franc and Japanese yen both climbed against the dollar earlier Friday, but were broadly unchanged by 6:50 a.m. London time. The most dramatic market reaction was seen in oil, as investors worried about retaliation from Iran and potential oil supply disruption. Crude futures jumped as much as 13% following the airstrike, setting them on course for their largest single-day gains since 2020. U.S. West Texas Intermediate was trading 7% higher at 7:48 a.m. London time at $72.76 per barrel, while global benchmark Brent surged 6.8% to $74.04 per barrel, both off earlier highs. "Looking forward, the focus is now shifting to what form Iran's retaliation might take. It's also unclear whether talks between the US and Iran over their nuclear programme will continue," the Deutsche Bank strategists added.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Alan Grieve, ‘entrepreneur philanthropist' who set up the Jerwood Foundation to finance arts causes
Alan Grieve, who has died aged 97, was a solicitor who in 1977 established the philanthropic Jerwood Foundation for John Jerwood, and ran it as chairman after his client's death in 1991, transforming it from a little-known foundation making donations mainly in the fields of music and education, to an ubiquitous force in the arts world; he described himself as an 'entrepreneur philanthropist'. Grieve was 30 when the senior partner of Taylor & Humbert, his Gray's Inn law firm, asked him to look after a 'tricky client' – tricky because he was based in Tokyo. John Jerwood was a British businessman who had made his fortune in the postwar years exploiting Japan's monopoly over the cultured-pearl industry. He was married to a Japanese woman but they had no children. Grieve travelled the world for Jerwood, becoming his solicitor, business adviser and confidant. In the mid-1970s he was given power of attorney to create a charitable foundation, which Jerwood ran for 14 years as a personal fiefdom. When Jerwood died in 1991, Grieve took control of an organisation with huge assets, and over the next two decades invested shrewdly to treble their value. Meanwhile, he set the foundation on a firm path of cultural philanthropy, building and adorning galleries, libraries, playhouses, dance studios and rehearsal spaces, and funding student bursaries and prizes ranging from drawing to dance. In the mid-1990s, when the Royal Court Theatre was on the brink of closure due to safety concerns, Grieve offered £3 million to help rebuild it, though he dismissed as 'absolute nonsense' press suggestions that he had insisted the theatre be renamed the 'Jerwood Royal Court' until Buckingham Palace vetoed the idea. Soon afterwards came Jerwood Space, a project involving the conversion of a Victorian school in Southwark into a nest of dance and drama rehearsal studios operating on what Grieve calls the 'Robin Hood principle', with rents calibrated according to what clients could afford, along with an art gallery that soon established itself as a focus for hip shows of contemporary painting. By keeping the core of the foundation small – with just three council members, supported by a select advisory council of experts, including Grieve's daughter Amanda, Lady Harlech, the fashion muse and director of Chanel – he ensured that it remained both flexible and independent, able to cut through or avoid the red tape that is the bane of projects involving public funding. For the Jerwood Space project, Grieve made his one and only application for a grant from the National Lottery. He was successful, but kept the money for only a matter of weeks: 'I realised that the Arts Council would want to bear in on me, tell me I hadn't done this or that. So I rang up Gerry Robinson [then chairman of Arts Council England] and asked to whom I should make the cheque out. I think you'd say he was taken aback.' Other capital schemes included the Jerwood Library of the Performing Arts at Trinity College of Music (now Trinity Laban) when it moved to the Royal Naval College, Greenwich; the Jerwood Gallery at the Natural History Museum; the Jerwood Library at Trinity Hall, Cambridge; the Jerwood Sculpture Park at Witley Court, Worcestershire; the Jerwood Centre for the prevention and treatment of dance injuries at the Hippodrome, home of Birmingham Royal Ballet; the Jerwood Centre at Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere; and the Jerwood Hall at the London Symphony Orchestra's music centre, St Luke's, built in the shell of a Hawksmoor church in north London. Grieve's particular passion was British art of the 20th century, and in 1994 he oversaw the founding of the £30,000 Jerwood painting prize for originality and excellence in painting in the United Kingdom. With the Turner Prize increasingly associated with the wackier end of the art spectrum, before it was phased out in 2004 the Jerwood became the prize many painters most coveted; winners included Craigie Aitchison, Patrick Caulfield, Prunella Clough and Maggi Hambling. At the same time Grieve assembled a collection of British art for the Jerwood Foundation which started with Frank Brangwyn and David Bomberg, and included works by Walter Sickert, Augustus John, Stanley Spencer, Winifred Nicholson, LS Lowry, Christopher Wood, Terry Frost and Keith Vaughan, to which he added the work of Jerwood Painting Prize winners. He spent £1.5 million, never paying more than £100,000 for a work, and set about building a gallery to house the collection. In 2012 the Jerwood Gallery, designed by Hana Loftus and Grieve's son, Tom, from the architecture firm HAT Projects, opened in Hastings; by this time Grieve reckoned the collection was worth around £6 million. The building won a RIBA National Award, but in 2019 the gallery, now Hastings Contemporary, cut ties with the Jerwood Foundation following a funding dispute. The Jerwood Collection of Modern and Contemporary British art is now accessible through a loans and exhibitions programme. Alan Thomas Grieve was born in London on January 22 1928 to Lewis Grieve and Doris, née Amner, and educated at Aldenham School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he read law. During National Service he was commissioned in 1949 in the Royal Armoured Corps (14th/20th King's Hussars) and thereafter served in the TA in the City of London Yeomanry (Rough Riders). After a few years as an assistant solicitor at the City law firm Slaughter and May, in 1958 he joined Taylor & Humbert, becoming senior partner in 1980. He then oversaw the firm's merger with Parker Garrett and remained senior partner in the merged firm Taylor Garrett until 1989, when it merged again with Joynson Hicks to become Taylor Joynson Garrett (now Taylor Wessing), of which he became a consultant. Grieve was appointed CBE in 2003. In 1957 Alan Grieve married Anne Dulake, with whom he had two sons and a daughter, Amanda Harlech. The marriage was dissolved, and in 1971 he married Karen de Sivrac Dunn, with whom he had a son and daughter. Alan Grieve, born January 22 1928, died May 14 2025 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
