Bridgestone Americas Inc. plans to shut down its manufacturing plants in North America and Latin America beginning the weekend of March 21.
The company says it will be a temporary, phased shutdown, and that the plan is for all facilities to resume normal operations "on or before April 12."
"The company will continue to monitor the situation closely and adjust response plans and activities as necessary."
Bridgestone says it has "sufficient supply of product to meet customer demand and its distribution centers, plant warehouses and logistics teams will continue to fill orders, but is executing this temporary shutdown to align supply to the predicted demand in the market.
"As the company carefully monitors the coronavirus situation, it is continuing to take action in all aspects of operations to ensure the health and safety of our employees while also addressing the needs of customers and the market."
According to Modern Tire Dealer's 2020 Facts Issue, Bridgestone operates 10 tire factories in North America: seven in the U.S., one in Canada, and two in Mexico. Combined, those plants produce 141,430 tires a day — the bulk of which — 97,600 — are passenger tires.
Here's the full breakdown in North American production:
Passenger tires: 97,600
Light truck tires: 23,700
Truck tires: 15,200
Other tires: 4,930
