There’s a new flagship Bridgestone tyre in the city bus segment, and it’s called the U-AP 002. Bridgestone says it designed this successor to the U-AP 001 to lower fuel consumption and exhaust emissions in congested urban areas through decreased rolling resistance. What’s more, by increasing tyre life through enhanced durability, the result is a tyre enabling a reduced total cost of ownership.
Bridgestone EMIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa) is shuffling its sales leadership structure. Taking effect on 1 September, the changes of vice presidential roles coincide with the departure of Mirella Cielo, who will become president consumer replacement tire sales, US and Canada, Bridgestone Americas. The EMIA division stated that Cielo “has been instrumental within Bridgestone EMIA’s consumer replacement organisation throughout her three years in the business.”
The world’s largest tyre manufacturer has outlined how its latest technologies and partnerships with leading car manufacturers are to help it increase sustainability in 2020. Bridgestone states that its car manufacturer partners sought its expertise on various partnerships throughout 2019, including ground-breaking CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric) projects, and the performance benefits of new tyre technologies, such as its Enliten technology, which it plans to extend to an increasing number of tyres this year. Bridgestone said these partnerships led to approximately 100 new original fitments in the EMEA region, similar to its ‘best-ever’ 2018 OE results, spread across more than 50 different models from 14 manufacturers. The tyre manufacturer’s 18” diameter or greater OEM fitments have increased by over 10 per cent since 2018, it added.
Volkswagen’s first fully electric race car, the ID.R has broken the electric-powered vehicle lap record on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, using Bridgestone Potenza tyres. The car completed the challenging 20.83km track in 6:05.336 minutes, beating the previous record by 40.56 seconds. Bridgestone custom-developed the Potenza tyres to help the ID.R navigate the demanding track in record-breaking time.
Bridgestone says it is the number one tyre supplier to BMW, and reinforces this by announcing original equipment arrangements for the latest X5, 8 Series and 3 Series models.
Seat has chosen Bridgestone as its preferred tyre partner to equip its new Minimó electric concept car, presented at the Geneva Motor Show. Minimó sits on specially designed tyres that apply Bridgestone’s ologic technology. Anticipating the design lines of a tyre oriented towards micro-mobility and CASE (Connected Autonomous Share Electric) vehicles, the tyres were developed for the car brand at Bridgestone’s R&D Centre in Rome.
Bridgestone is supplying Potenza branded slick tyres as a new chapter in its Volkswagen supply partnership begins at the Green Hell of the Nürburgring. Volkswagen’s electric ID. R will aim to beat the lap record for electric vehicles on the Nürburgring Nordschleife in summer 2019. Bridgestone is a long-term original equipment tyre supplier for the firm’s production vehicles, and the new deal sees the companies expand their partnership into motorsport. The ID. R is the racing forerunner to the new ID. product family – Volkswagen’s wide range of purely electric vehicles to be launched from 2020.
Audi has selected Bridgestone as its tyre supplier for the release of its first all-electric SUV, the Audi e-tron. The companies agreed a list of characteristics required to highlight the specifications of the new model. The e-tron boasts fast acceleration, high comfort, very low noise, and high levels of safety without dropping performance. Bridgestone will supply six different tyres sized between 19 and 21 inches, four summer and two winter tyres, as original equipment. The manufacturer has emphasised the original equipment channel recently, achieving “more than 120 OE fitments” in EMEA during 2018, a result it labelled its best ever.
Bridgestone provided more than 120 new original equipment fitments in the EMEA region during 2018, an increase of more than 30 per cent. The fitments are spread across more than 40 different models from 15 different manufacturers. The tyre manufacturer, which is the largest in the world, says the commitment of such brands as Toyota, Mercedes, and Porsche, shows the original equipment manufacturers’ appreciation for its investment in research and development.
Bridgestone has been named the exclusive supplier for the new Renault Mégane R.S. Trophy, and will supply custom-tuned versions of its Potenza S001 and Potenza S007 as original equipment fitments.
According to Bridgestone Corporation, its global investments in research and development are the highest in the industry – it invested more than £710 million in this area last year – and the company says they’ve paid off. As evidence, the tyre maker points to the more than 45 original equipment fitments it has landed on more than 15 vehicle models since the start of 2018. What’s more, over 60 additional fitments are expected to come by the end of this year.
Bridgestone