Tokyo (November 11, 2011)-Bridgestone Corporation announced today that it will increase production capacity of small and medium size off-the-road radial tires for construction and mining vehicles (small and medium size ORRs) at its Hofu Plant. The total investment will be approximately ¥4.7 billion. Plans call for increasing the plant's production capacity by approximately 12 tons per day, to approximately 94 tons per day during the first quarter of 2014.

The Hofu Plant began operations in 1976 and it manufactures off-the-road bias tires for construction and mining vehicles (ORSs) and passenger car radial tires (PSRs) in addition to small and medium size ORRs. Small and medium size ORRs are mainly for vehicles used in such applications as mining, quarry, port and industrial, and construction　all over the world. This increase in production capacity will enable the Bridgestone Group to meet the steady growth in global demand for small and medium size ORRs.

The Bridgestone Group is continuously improving its production and supply systems so that it can always respond rapidly to market demand trends and provide customers with world-class quality products in a timely manner.

<Outline the Hofu Plant>

1. Location	: Hamakata 100, Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture
2. Products	: PSR, small and medium size ORR, ORS
3. Plant Director	: Kazunori Tago
4. Site area	: Approximately 482,000 square meters
5. Start of operations	: August 1976
6. Number of employees	: 983 (as of June 2011)
7. Production capacity (as of June 2011)	: PSR - approximately 12,500 tires per day small and medium size ORR - approximately 82 tons per day ORS - approximately 20 tons per day