Bridgestone/Firestone Announces Management Changes
Retirements, Reassignments in Quality Assurance and Manufacturing

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (December 19, 2001) - Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, Inc. (BFAH) today announced several management changes in its Quality Assurance organization and in the manufacturing group of Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT).

Due to the retirement of Robert J. Wyant, Vice President Quality Assurance, Stephen W. Brooks, currently Plant Manager at the BFNT Aiken County, S.C. tire manufacturing facility, has been promoted to Vice President Quality Assurance with concurrent responsibility for QA matters in both BFNT and BFAH. Wyant's retirement and Brooks promotion are effective January 1, 2002. Following his retirement, Wyant will continue to serve as a consultant to the company. While Brooks' successor at the Aiken County plant has not yet been named, BFNT has promoted Michael R. Rose to General Manager at the South Carolina operation. Rose is presently serving as Group Leader at the facility.

The company has also announced that Harry McMillan, Plant Manager of BFNT's Wilson N.C. tire manufacturing facility, has elected to retire effective March 1, 2002, acting as a consultant to the company thereafter. Filling the open position at Wilson will be Kazz Nishigai, currently Plant Manager at BFNT's Warren County, Tenn. truck and bus tire manufacturing operation. Succeeding Nishigai as Plant Manager at Warren County will be Dennis Ringgenberg, whose most recent assignment was as Plant Manager at the company's Decatur, Ill. facility.

Wyant, 59, is retiring after 36 years of service with the company. He began his career with the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio in 1965 as a junior engineer and has held a number of engineering, product development and sales support positions, including sales engineer, manager of scientific computing and mold design, manager of development services, and director of product technology. Wyant has served as Vice President Quality Assurance since May 2000.

Speaking about Wyant, John Lampe, CEO and Chairman of BFNT and BFAH said, "Those of us who have worked with Bob know him to be an exceptional individual with great integrity and tremendous loyalty to the company. He has always worked hard to further the best interests of Bridgestone/Firestone. While we thank him for his many years of valued service and wish him good luck and much happiness in his retirement, we are also pleased that Bob will continue to assist us in a consulting capacity following his official retirement."

Brooks, 48, joined Bridgestone/Firestone in its Warren County, Tenn. plant in 1989, having previously gained experience in the tire industry with other manufacturers. Since joining the company, he has held positions of increasing responsibility in the Bridgestone/Firestone manufacturing organization, including division manager production control and information services and division manager operations at the Warren County plant. Brooks was assigned as general manager operations of the Aiken County plant shortly following the company's 1997 announcement that it intended to locate its state-of-the-art passenger and light truck tire manufacturing operation in South Carolina. He was promoted to Plant Manager of that facility in October 2000.

"We are extremely happy that Steve has agreed to accept this assignment," said Lampe. "He has a wealth of manufacturing experience as well as strong organizational and technical skills that will serve the company well. We are confident that he will be a dynamic leader who can further the expanded mission of our Quality Assurance program."

McMillan, 59, who joined the company in 1965, has held a number of international manufacturing positions. Following his first company assignment in Akron, Ohio, as an industrial engineer, he has served as an industrial engineering manager in Nairobi, Kenya and Sao Paolo, Brazil; plant manager in Bonsaso, Ghana; Cuernavaca, Mexico, Christchurch, New Zealand and Decatur, Ill.; and managing director in Manila, Philippines. McMillan has held the position of plant manager at the company's Wilson tire plant since October 2000.

Tim Kawakami, BFNT Executive Vice President, Manufacturing, praised McMillan's contributions. "Harry's breadth and scope of experience, gained on assignments in locations as diverse as Kenya, New Zealand, the Philippines and North Carolina, has provided the company a unique perspective on manufacturing in a global marketplace. He has built first-class, world-class operations wherever he has been assigned and our company has truly benefited from his efforts."

McMillan's successor at the Wilson plant, Nishigai, 51, also brings experience in international manufacturing to his North Carolina assignment. He joined Bridgestone Corporation in Japan in 1975, holding positions of increasing responsibility in the company's Tokyo technical center focusing on materials engineering. From 1993 through 1997 he held manufacturing positions in Wilson and later Decatur, Ill., later returning to Japan as a plant manager. He has held his current position as plant manager at BFNT's Warren County plant since November 2000.

Ringgenberg, 53, who will succeed Nishigai at the Warren County facility, has more than thirty years of broad based experience at all levels of the tire manufacturing process. He began his career with the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company as an hourly employee at the Des Moines, Iowa plant and worked his way up through the organization to production manager and later plant manager at the company's Decatur facility.

The newly created position of General Manager at the Aiken County plant will be filled by Rose, 49. He joined the company in 1972 and gained experience in tire manufacturing through diverse assignments. His most recent position is that of Group Leader in the Aiken County plant, a job he has held since the plant opened in 1998.

"With our renewed vigor and focus on quality and on manufacturing, we as a company are extremely fortunate to have individuals of such high caliber to fill these critical positions," said Kawakami.

Nashville, Tennessee based Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC. is a subsidiary of Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, Inc. BFNT develops, manufactures, and markets Bridgestone, Firestone, Dayton and private and associate brand tires. The company is focused on wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off-road, agriculture and other tires to its customers in North America. Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, Inc. is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation of Japan, the world's largest tire and rubber manufacturer. Through its subsidiaries, BFAH develops, manufactures, and markets a broad array of products including tires, industrial products such as air springs, roofing materials, synthetic rubber, and industrial fibers and textiles.