Bridgestone to lay off 158 jobs in US

Japan's Bridgestone today said it may stop producing tyres for passenger cars and light trucks at a plant in the United States next year with the loss of up to 500 jobs.

As a first step, the group said its US subsidiary Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire (BFNT) would lay off at least 158 employees on December 21 at the plant in LaVergne, Tennessee due to weak demand.

The plant, one of Bridgestone's six production bases in the United States, has about 1,700 employees and produces tyres for passenger cars, light trucks, trucks and buses.

"Demand for tyres in the North American market has declined under the influence of the global economic downturn and BFNT has coped with it through production adjustments," Bridgestone said in a statement.

"But the company has determined it is indispensable to make further production adjustments in North America."

BFNT has notified the United Steelworkers (USW) industrial labour union that it might stop production of "most or all" tyres for cars and light trucks at the Tennessee plant, the statement said.

If the plan is agreed upon, production of these tyres will be stopped on June 30 next year and may result in about 500 job cuts, the statement said.

Production of tyres for other trucks and buses at the plant will be continued.

The Tennessee plant started operating in 1972 and was bought by Bridgestone in 1983 from Firestone Tire and Rubber as its first US plant. Bridgestone bought the entire Firestone entity in 1988.