Location: Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Founded: August 3rd, 1900
Founder: Harvey Firestone
Key People:
Gordon Knapp (CEO and President)
Bill Thompson (COO)
Employees: 33,000
Parent Company: Bridgestone Corporation (1988 - Present)
More About The Manufacturer:[]
Firestone was originally based in Akron, Ohio, also the hometown of its archrival, Goodyear, and two other midsized competitors, General Tire and Rubber and BFGoodrich. Founded on August 3, 1900, the company initiated operations with 12 employees. Together, Firestone and Goodyear were the largest suppliers of automotive tires in North America for over 75 years. In 1906, Henry Ford chose Firestone to supply tires for its car models.
In 1918, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Canada was incorporated in Hamilton, Ontario, and the first Canadian-made tire rolled off the line on September 15, 1922. During the 1920s, Firestone produced the Oldfield tire, named for racing driver Barney Oldfield.
In 1926, the company opened one of the world's biggest rubber plantations in Liberia, West Africa, spanning more than one million acres (1,560 sq mi; 4,050 km2). Also that year, the company opened its first Firestone Tire and Service Center (later renamed Firestone Complete Auto Care). Firestone Complete Auto Care is the division of Firestone that offers automotive maintenance and repair, including tires.
In 1927, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone took a trip to southern California to select locations for their new factories. Friends say Ford wanted to be near the ocean and picked Long Beach and suggested Firestone go to South Gate. The tiny community southeast of downtown Los Angeles was mostly agricultural at the time and Firestone found 40 acres (16 ha) of beanfield to house his new manufacturing plant. Architects Curlett and Beelman created a spectacular four-story Italianate complex, with its own power plant and gorgeous polychrome murals by Gladding, McBean depicting the tire and rubber-making process. A year after the plant opened in 1928, it doubled in size, and grew to nearly one million square feet (23 acres; 9.3 ha) by 1954. The town grew around Firestone, its main boulevard was named after Harvey, and Los Angeles became the number one tire market in the country. By the mid-1970s, Ford and GM had massive layoffs as Firestone and other manufacturers opened new plants in non-union locales like Wilson, North Carolina. After considerable downsizing, the end at South Gate came in 1980 when 1,300 workers were laid off and the plant closed. East Los Angeles College has proposed a new satellite campus at the site.
In 1928, the company built a factory in Brentford, England, a longtime Art Deco landmark on a major route into the city; this closed in 1979.
In 1936, the company opened a plant in Memphis, Tennessee. With a work force exceeding 3,000 employees, the Memphis plant was the largest tire manufacturer in the company's worldwide operation. On July 1, 1963, the company celebrated the production of 100 million tires in Memphis. The plant was closed in 1982.
On October 11, 1941, the Firestone Rubber and Latex plant in Fall River Mass had 5 out of 8 buildings and at least 15,000 tons of rubber destroyed by fire. The fire incurred $12 million in damage ($205 million in 2019 dollars).
During World War II, the company was called on by the U.S. Government to make artillery shells, aluminum kegs for food transport, and rubberized military products. Barrage balloons were produced at Akron. Firestone ranked 55th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime military production contracts. In the 1940s, Firestone was given a defense contract to produce plastic helmet liners; while outproduced by Westinghouse Electric, they still made a fair amount for the M1 Helmet.
In 1951, Firestone was given the defense contract for the MGM-5 Corporal missile. Firestone was given a total of $6,888,796 for the first 200 units. Known as the "Embryo of the Army," it was a surface-to-surface guided missile that could deliver a high-explosive warhead up to 75 nautical miles (140 km). It was later modified to be able to carry a nuclear payload for use in the event of Cold War hostilities in Eastern Europe. Built in southern California, this missile was replaced in 1962 by the MGM-29 Sergeant system.
In 1961, Firestone acquired the Dayton Tire division from the Dayco Corporation. Dayco later sued both Firestone and Goodyear, alleging that the two companies conspired to monopolize the tire industry in the United States. The United States District Court dismissed the lawsuit.
In 1974, after a long tire battle against Goodyear, Firestone decided to leave NASCAR after being with the racing series for over 20 years.
In late 1979, Firestone brought in John Nevin, the ex-head of Zenith Electronics, as president to save the hemorrhaging company from total collapse. It was more than a billion dollars in debt at the time, and losing $250 million a year. Nevin closed nine of the company's seventeen manufacturing plants, including six in one day, and relocated the company from its ancestral home in Akron to Chicago. He spun off non-tire related businesses, including the Firestone Country Club; it was considered a deliberate plan to boost the stock price, and it paid off .
In 1988, after discussions with Pirelli, Nevin negotiated the sale of the company to the Japanese company Bridgestone, which was able to buy the company for much less than it had been worth a decade and a half earlier. The combined Bridgestone / Firestone North American operations are now based in Nashville, Tennessee. The companies celebrated the 20th anniversary of the merger in 2008, and changed the tire division name to Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC. In 2012, Bridgestone Americas opened a $100 million technical center in Akron.
Apart from tires, several companies and divisions operate with the Firestone brand in its name. These companies include Firestone Building Products, LLC, Firestone Industrial Products, LLC, Firestone Complete Auto Care, Firestone Natural Rubber Company, and Firestone Specialty Products. Firestone Building Products and Firestone Industrial Products are headquartered in Indianapolis and operate in 23 U.S. states and ten countries, with 11,000 employees worldwide; its annual sales exceed $2.5 billion.
In 1972, Firestone received a ten-year import "concession" by the Kenyan government to secure Firestone's investment in a domestic tire plant, which gave it a virtual monopoly. This included both general price and foreign exchange controls. When the 10-year period came to an end in 1979, Firestone retaliated by increasing production, making entry less attractive. Headquarters eventually canceled expansion and failed negotiations lead to no further investments.
Bridgestone moved its corporate office to downtown Nashville in October 2017. Today the Firestone Tires are mostly found on the iRacing IndyCars.