Bridgestone’s Duffy appointed to aircraft tyre role, successor is one-time Goodyear UK MD

As of next month the current managing director of Bridgestone Europe’s Central Region, Gerry Duffy, will take on leadership of Bridgestone Aircraft Tire Company (Asia) Ltd. As chief executive officer of the operation, Duffy will be based in Hong Kong. His successor for the Central Region role is Andreas Niegsch, who joins Bridgestone from Goodyear Dunlop.

Gerry Duffy’s career with Bridgestone began in the UK 28 years ago. He joined Bridgestone Europe in 1996 and initially held several field engineering roles before progressing to sales and marketing. He was appointed director of Bridgestone’s commercial and off-road tyre original equipment business in 2006, and two years later became Bridgestone Europe’s vice-president of sales and marketing. Duffy took on responsibility for the German, Austrian and Swiss markets in October 2010, and this evolved into his current role through reorganisation measures undertaken at Bridgestone Europe a year later.

Andreas Niegsch brings 24 years of international tyre and automotive industry management experience with him to Bridgestone. His career began with the Michelin group in Germany in 1991, and after a three-year stint at Robert Bosch GmbH he joined Goodyear Dunlop GmbH. Positions held at Goodyear Dunlop include as managing director of Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK between December 2002 and September 2004. He has also been director of marketing and sales for Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe’s EEMA region, managing director and president of Goodyear Sava Tire’s Management Board and managing director of Goodyear Lastikleri T.A.Ş. in Turkey. Niegsch was appointed Africa region special project manager for Goodyear & Dunlop Tyres in September 2012, and in November 2013 he took on the additional role of director PBU consumer sales and special project director, emerging markets, at Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe B.V.