Japanese tire maker Bridgestone's subsidiary, Bridgestone Europe (BSEU) will shut down its passenger car tire manufacturing plant located at Modugno in Bari, Italy.
The decision was driven by the 13% fall in the European Union (EU) tire segment in 2012, with forecasts of no possible recovery before 2020.
Apart from the drop tire demand, increase of the market share in the low-range segment by the producers from developing countries with advantage in terms of cost competitiveness has also prompted the closure, according to the company.
The company expects to shut down the plant in first half of 2014 and focus on the prmium segment of the market.
About 950 workers are employed at the Bari plant that was started in 1962 and has production capacity of 21,000 tires per day.
In February 2013, the company opened a new tire manufacturing plant in Pune, India and commenced production of passenger car radial tires (PSR).
