Bridgestone 2002 Annual Report Download - page 13

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The continued global popularity of sport-utility
vehicles has produced a huge market for tires
in large sizes. Bridgestone Group companies
are generally well equipped with production
resources to serve that market. And only
minimal investment will be required to increase
their capacity for large-sized tires further.
BMW equips its new Z4 roadster exclusively
with Bridgestone’s Potenza RE050 RFT runflat
tires. Bridgestone began supplying runflat tires
for factory installation on vehicles in 1999. The
BMW Z4 is the sixth model overall and the sec-
ond BMW model to feature Bridgestone runflat
tires as factory equipment. Bridgestone also
supplies runflat tires for the BMW Z8.
Ultrahigh-performance tires and their
low-aspect ratios offer excellent handling,
steering accuracy and braking. They were
long a niche product favored mainly by sports
car aficionados. But they have become a
mainstream product as the number of high-
performance cars on the world’s highways has
burgeoned. Bridgestone Group companies in
the industrialized nations are expanding their
production capacity for high- and ultrahigh-
performance tires.
11
ments
High-profile fitments on ultrahigh-performance
cars call attention to the Bridgestone Group’s
competitive edge in tire technology. Bridgestone
is the first and presently the only supplier of
tires for Ferrari’s newest sports car. The car,
christened the Enzo Ferrari, is the automaker’s
highest-performance production model ever.
Bridgestone developed the Potenza RE050
Scuderia tires exclusively for the Enzo, the
eagerly awaited successor to the F50.