Bridgestone Europe’s Annunziato takes on senior role within parent company

Bridgestone Europe’s Franco Annunziato holds the distinction of going boldly where no European has gone before; the Italian national, who is chief quality officer and senior vice president of Technology at Bridgestone Europe, has taken on the additional role of vice president and senior officer at Bridgestone Corporation. In announcing his appointment, effective March 29, Bridgestone points out that Annunziato is the first ever European to be appointed to such a senior position within the Japanese corporation.

Annunziato joined the Bridgestone group in 1982 and held several positions in research and development before his promotion to the position of managing director of the European Technical centre (TCE) in 2004. He was appointed senior vice president of Bridgestone Europe in 2008 and took on the additional role of chief quality officer in 2009. Following this further appointment with Bridgestone Corporation he will continue to be based at Bridgestone’s technical centre close to Rome, where his team of around 500 engineers and chemists develop tyres for the European original equipment and replacement markets.