The impressive story of Bridgestone, how a shoe manufacturer conquered the world with its tires?

Bridgestone, one of the world's largest tire manufacturers, was founded on March 1, 1931 in Japan by Shōjirō Ishibashi.

Ishibashi began his career in a family business that produced tabi – traditional Japanese cotton shoes with rubber soles.

Inspired by the success of rubber shoes, Ishibashi decided to expand his business into the automobile tire industry, reports the Telegraph.

The company's name comes from a direct translation of his surname – "Ishibashi" means "stone bridge", which translates into English as Bridgestone.

Ishibashi had the vision to create a world-class Japanese tire manufacturer, at a time when the automobile industry in Japan was in its infancy.

At first, the company faced many challenges – from technological shortcomings to economic instability in Japan.

Despite this, they quickly improved production and by 1934, they had developed their own pneumatic tire manufacturing process.

During World War II, Bridgestone shifted its operations to manufacturing for the Japanese military, but they had to start over after the war. In 1951, they began producing synthetic rubber.

During the 50s and 60s, Bridgestone began an aggressive expansion, expanding production throughout Japan. In 1965, they opened their first factory outside of Japan, in Singapore.

The next decade was crucial for the company – in 1983, Bridgestone founded the European branch Bridgestone Europe, and just five years later, in 1988, one of the largest acquisitions in the tire industry took place – they took over Firestone American, then one of the largest tire manufacturers in the US.

Today, Bridgestone is one of the two largest manufacturers of tires and rubber products in the world, present in more than 150 countries.

The company employs over 130,000 people and has more than 180 production and research centers around the world. Their portfolio includes tires for passenger cars, trucks, motorcycles, aircraft and even industrial vehicles.

Bridgestone competes with several global giants in the tire industry, including Michelin, Continental AG, Goodyear and Pirelli.

However, Michelin and Bridgestone lead the way and have alternated for years at the top of the global rankings, depending on financial results and market conditions.

In 2023, Michelin achieved revenue of around 28.6 billion euros, while Bridgestone recorded around 24.5 billion euros in revenue. /Telegraph/