Bridgestone Americas will invest $12 million to boost production of off-road tyres at its Bloomington, Illinois plant. The plant will produce multiple sizes and patterns in 29, 33 and 35 in OTR tyres, which until now have only been produced in Japan. Bridgestone expects to add 30 employees through the expansion.

“Bridgestone is committed to meet the evolving needs of our customers in the OTR segment,” said Bridget Neal, president, off-the-road tyres. “The addition of the three tyre sizes to the Bloomington production line combined with our Aiken County, South Carolina, Off Road Tire Plant, allows us to support North American customers with regional supply of our key products.”

“This investment is about increasing our flexibility to produce high-quality radial or bias tyres—whatever our customers demand,” said Monty Greutman, Plant Manager, Bloomington. “It will allow us to deliver on our global commitment to develop innovative new products that will meet our customers’ needs, but it wouldn’t be possible without the outstanding teammates we have here today—some of whom have worked here for decades.” The plant produces OTR tyres for mining and construction applications.