Bridgestone EMIA announced that plants across Europe would be either closing temporarily or reducing production in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bethune plant in France and the Bari plant in Italy will be closed until 6 April.
The Bilbao, Puente San Miguel and Burgos plants in Spain, Lanklaar in Belgium, Stargard and Poznan plants in Poland, and Tatabanya plant in Hungary will all be running at reduced capacity.
Bridgestone Americas earlier announced temporary furlough of factories in North America and Latin America. "These changes are being made to align [our] supply with predicted demand in the current market," the OEM and aftermarket tyre make said in a statement.
"The company has sufficient product supply to meet customer demand and its distribution centres, plant warehouses and logistics teams will continue to fill orders. The company will continue to evaluate the situation on a need basis." In locations remaining operational, Bridgestone said it was taking appropriate measures for the prevention of occupational hazards and strictly following guidance and recommendations of health authorities in all work centres. In addition, thorough procedures and checklists to ensure safety in the workplace have been put in place.
The company continues to monitor the situation closely and abide by the advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) as well as government regulations in countries in which it operates.
