NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) is investing $36.6 million in its Warren County, Tenn., plant to increase production capacity by an additional 900 truck and bus tires per day. The expansion is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2013 and is projected to create 50 new jobs.

The investment is part of a comprehensive expansion in US manufacturing operations announced yesterday by Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM), BATO’s parent company. To meet the growing global demand for off-road radial tires, the company announced it will build a new off-road radial plant in Aiken County, S.C. It also announced a substantial increase in production capacity at its existing passenger and light truck tire plant in Aiken County. All together, these projects combined with the new investments in the Warren County plant represent an investment of more than $1.2 billion in Bridgestone Americas’ US manufacturing operations and are expected to create more than 900 new jobs in the next nine years.

In addition, Bridgestone Metalpha USA (BMU), a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation and an affiliate of BATO, announced yesterday that its Clarksville, Tenn., plant will begin producing the off-road radial steel cord needed for the tires to be produced at the new Aiken County plant. The associated $75 million investment will expand the plant’s size by 123,077 sq. ft and create an additional 45 jobs in that community.

“With increasing demand in the market, it was time for us to increase capacity to meet the needs of customers seeking world-class Bridgestone and Firestone truck and bus tires,” said Kurt Danielson, president of Bridgestone Americas Commercial Solutions group, BATO. “The outstanding people and facilities at our Warren County plant, as well as the long-standing partnership we have with the Warren County community and the state of Tennessee, made it the perfect location to make this investment and expand our production.”

Site preparation and construction in Warren County will begin in the second quarter of 2012. Construction is expected to be complete by the third quarter of 2012, and the manufacturing equipment will begin to be installed in the fourth quarter of the same year. The additional production is expected to commence at the end of the first quarter of 2013, reaching full production in the fourth quarter of that year.