Bridgestone EMEA announces senior leadership changes

Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (Bridgestone EMEA) will implement several changes to its leadership structure next month in conjunction with and complementary to the global leadership changes recently announced by parent company, Bridgestone Corporation. The changes take effect 16 September and are part of a broader succession platform designed to cultivate global leaders throughout the enterprise.

According to Bridgestone, the primary shifts in its Executive Committee are motivated by the extension of Bridgestone’s solutions business into new domains, such as fleet solutions, the ambition to strengthen the end-to-end supply chain in an increasingly complex and digital manufacturing environment, and finally to strengthen collaboration between R&D and Manufacturing and capitalise on the increased digitisation of the production environment. The roles of the first line executives, reporting to Paolo Ferrari, chief executive officer and president of Bridgestone EMEA, will be enhanced as follows:

Laurent Dartoux, currently chief strategy and marketing officer (CSMO) at Bridgestone EMEA and corporate officer of Bridgestone Corporation, will assume the position of Bridgestone EMEA’s chief operating officer in concurrence with his CSMO role. Laurent Dartoux will retain several of his current responsibilities including: Brands Marketing, Corporate Communications, and Solutions & Strategy, as well as TomTom Telematics, Mergers & Acquisitions, and CSR. In addition, Laurent will assume responsibility for Manufacturing Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, and Procurement, to further accelerate the company’s core operations strategy.

Emilio Tiberio, recently appointed as chief technology officer of Bridgestone EMEA and corporate officer of Bridgestone Corporation, will take responsibility for both Quality and Environment Health & Safety, as well as Regulatory and Public Affairs. Emilio will also take charge of Bridgestone’s System Engineering department, a new unit created to further strengthen collaboration between R&D and Manufacturing.

Astrid Rahn, chief financial officer of Bridgestone EMEA, will assume, on top of her current ones, the responsibility of IT. She will manage the balance of IT investments between the core infrastructure and the needs triggered by Bridgestone EMEA’s digital journey.

Riccardo Cichi, chief sales officer (CSO) of Bridgestone EMEA, will further strengthen his commercial and consumer organisation by integrating the Consumer and Commercial Product Planning into the CSO function for an even stronger roadmap based on the customer and market needs.

Several new positions have also been added to the company’s Global Head Office, and Bridgestone EMEA has announced that Paolo Ferrari, executive vice president and executive officer of Bridgestone Corporation, chief executive officer and president of Bridgestone EMEA and chairman of the Board for Bridgestone Americas, will take on the additional responsibility of G-Chief Digital Strategic Officer (G-CDSO). This new role is concurrent with Paolo’s other roles.

“The world of mobility is changing rapidly driven by trends such as urbanisation, climate change and digitisation and we are transforming rapidly as a result. I am confident that these changes to our BSEMEA leadership will help accelerate our transformation journey from a premium tyre manufacturer to a leader in mobility solutions and help us integrate our operations into this journey,” said Paolo Ferrari. “As our industry is becoming more CASE (connected, autonomous, shared and electrified), I’m proud to be able to contribute to the Bridgestone Group’s future growth ambitions by capitalising on digital business opportunities and leading our company and our industry in the future of mobility.”