Bridgestone Americas’ corporate family traces its roots to two distinguished companies— The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company, which Harvey Firestone formed in Akron, Ohio in August 1900, and the Bridgestone Tire Company Ltd., which Shojiro Ishibashi started in Japan in 1931.
Bridgestone Corporation purchased Firestone in 1988 for $2.6 billion, transforming the companies’ combined operations into the world’s largest tire and rubber company. The operations in the Americas were renamed Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. and became the largest subsidiary of Bridgestone. As part of its integration with Bridgestone’s existing U.S. operations, Bridgestone/Firestone moved its headquarters from Akron to Nashville in 1992.
Today, this subsidiary, now named Bridgestone Americas (BSAM), consists of an international family of enterprises with 52 production facilities and more than 50,000 employees throughout the Americas.
BSAM and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture, and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone, and associate brand tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers, and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies are also engaged in retreading operations throughout the Western Hemisphere and produce air springs, roofing materials, and industrial fibers and textiles. The BSAM family of companies also operates the world’s largest chain of automotive tire and service centers.

Bridgestone America’s environmental mission is to help ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations. This commitment to a more sustainable society is a reflection of the Bridgestone Essence and is evident in our mission’s three main objectives.

The first is to be in harmony with nature. We believe that “we are all in this together” – One Team, One Planet. – and every business has a part to play and a responsibility to uphold. We have taken on the responsibility of contributing to biodiversity protection through habitat enhancement on the land we own, through leading environmental education programs and through promoting environmental research for innovation in our products at our R&D facilities.

Our second objective is to value natural resources. We continually work to decrease the number of natural resources required for our products and processes through operational improvements and our product designs. We also continue to decrease the amount of waste we generate. For example, our tire plants are nearly 99% efficient in producing saleable tires, i.e. less than 2% are scrap.

The last objective is to reduce our CO2 and other significant emissions. We continually work to reduce these emissions, not only in our direct footprint but also within the lifecycle of our products. Our corporate goal is to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% before 2020. We have invested our time and money in our value chain in many innovative partnerships, including the EPA’s SmartWay program. Likewise, we have invested greatly in educating consumers on how they can conserve fuel and lengthen the useful life of their tires and vehicles through educational programs in our network of 2,200 retail stores.firestone-3

We are proud of our commitment to the environment, our achievements, and the recognition we’ve received for our environmental efforts. We invite you to read our Corporate Environmental Mission Statement and visit the Operations page for current environmental performance metrics.

This is the story of how one man helped inspire society and revolutionized transportation forever. To this day, Firestone continues to be a leader and driving force in the tire industry and beyond.

From steering the “Ship by Truck” movement to delivering key supplies during both World Wars, Firestone has played a pivotal role in shaping society. Today, Firestone continues its commitment to excellence through exceptional service and innovation.