Nashville-based Bridgestone Americas Holdings Inc. said Tuesday that it will restructure and simplify its business operations as of Jan. 1, combining its U.S., Canadian and Latin American tire businesses into one unit, and change the assignments of some key executives.
The changes will be transparent to consumers, but "should make the company more efficient in the long run," said Christine Karbowiak, vice president for community and corporate relations.
One key change is the renaming of the holding company to Bridgestone Americas Inc., and removal of the Firestone name from the company's tire unit, now known as Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire LLC.
That division will be part of a new unit known simply as Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, which will also include the Canadian and Latin American tire businesses, Karbowiak said.
The company's Americas headquarters will remain in Nashville.
"Nashville and Tennessee have been very good to this company, and we're glad to be here," Karbowiak said.
In a related move, Karbowiak will join the Bridgestone Americas board of directors as of Jan. 1, becoming the first woman named to a Bridgestone Group board, said Mark A. Emkes, chairman and chief executive officer of Bridgestone Americas.
Asahiko "Duke" Nishiyama will lead the new Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, which also will include the company's U.S., Canadian and Latin American consumer tire businesses, as well as the U.S. and Canadian commercial-tire businesses.
Nishiyama will report to Emkes.
Streamlining citedThe renaming of the company will "clearly define Bridgestone Americas and its subsidiaries as members of the global Bridgestone Group," Emkes said.
The company is not abandoning the Firestone name, which will remain on its line of value-oriented tires, as well as its chain of retail tire and automotive service centers and its diversified products lines, which include roofing products and synthetic rubber, Karbowiak said.
Bridgestone, the Japanese-based tire company that bought Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. in 1988, will continue to market tires in North America under both names, she said.
The Bridgestone brand will continue to be positioned as the premium product, while Firestone tires will continue as the value brand, Karbowiak said.
"Firestone is a 108-year-old brand with great name recognition," she said. "What we're trying to do is continue to support this iconic tire and service brand, even though the tire companies will no longer carry the Firestone name."
She said the changes have nothing to do with the bad publicity the Firestone brand received from the massive Ford Explorer-Firestone tire recall seven years ago, and the fact that Ford Motor Co. no longer equips any of its new vehicles in the United States with Firestone tires.
"All we're trying to do is streamline corporate identities," she said.
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