Bridgestone 2003 Annual Report Download - page 8

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systems from Continental AG in a cross-licensing arrangement. Our SSR tires are especially good
for small and medium-sized vehicles and for high-performance cars. Support Ring systems are a
good choice for comfort-oriented cars and for sport-utility vehicles.
Our strengths in runflat technology extend to truck and bus tires. For example, we offer our
GREATEC MEGA DRIVE tires for trucks and buses with AIRCEPT chambers. Those chambers,
installed inside the tires, expand immediately to maintain the tire
shape if the air pressure drops suddenly. GREATEC-AIRCEPT tires
combine the advantages of single tires with the safety of double-
tire configurations.
Results
We sold about 500,000 runflat tires in 2003, a 2.5-fold increase
over the previous year, and we have sold a cumulative total
of more than 1 million runflat tires. That sales momentum is
positioning our technologies as de facto standards for runflat
tire systems.
Our runflat technologies are the foundation of a growing
consortium of tire manufacturers. We and Continental share
the technologies while working separately and in competition
06
BRIDGESTONE
Why
The future of the tire industry is runflat. And the future is now. Runflat systems keep a vehicle
moving safely—up to a specified maximum speed and distance—after a loss of tire pressure. They
also increase safety by allowing drivers to proceed to safe places to change tires that have lost
pressure.
In addition, runflats eliminate the need for carrying a spare tire. That contributes to fuel econ-
omy through weight savings, and it gives automakers greater latitude in designing vehicles.
Eliminating the spare tire also reduces rubber consumption and rubber scrap.
We were early believers in the potential of runflat systems, and we were a pioneer in commer-
cializing runflat technologies in the 1980s. As a result, we have supplied more runflat tires for
production vehicles than any other tire manufacturer.
Strengths
The most immediately apparent advantage of our runflat systems is their adaptability to conven-
tional wheels. We offer two kinds of runflat tire systems: Self Supporting Runflat (SSR) tires,
which use sidewall reinforcement, and Support Ring runflat systems, which contain internal metal
rings. Both kinds fit on conventional wheels and rims. In contrast, the main competitor to our
runflat systems requires special wheels.
Our ability to offer two different systems is an especially important strength for us in runflat
tires. SSR is an original Bridgestone technology. All of the runflat tires that we supply to
automakers are based on this technology. We obtained the technological rights to Support Ring
Keeping a vehicle moving safely on a punctured
tire has long been the holy grail of the tire industry.
Several technologies have emerged for maintaining
the shape of a tire that has lost pressure. But only in recent years have
so-called runflat technologies begun to appear on large numbers of
automobiles. And no tire maker has supplied runflat systems for as
many vehicles as we have.
Industry Leadership:
Runflat Tires
BMW adopted our runflat tires
on its new 5 Series and 6 Series
models. Those cars join the Z4 and Z8 series as
BMW models equipped with Bridgestone-brand
runflats. We have supplied BMW and other
automakers with runflat tires for 10 models
of passenger cars. In truck and bus tires, we
will supply double-width tires equipped with
runflat-like features to DaimlerChrysler.
2003
HIGHLIGHTS