Bridgestone/Firestone Announces Jorge Gonzalez Promotion

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (September 19, 2002)– Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, Inc, (BFAH) today announced that Jorge Gonzalez, president of the company’s Mexican subsidiary, has been promoted to Executive Vice President of BFAH and appointed President of Bridgestone/Firestone Latin American Tire Operations (BFLA). BFLA, based in Nashville, Tenn., is an operating unit of BFAH comprised of the company’s six Latin American subsidiaries. The appointment is effective immediately. Gonzalez succeeds Mark Emkes, who was elected to the concurrent positions of Chairman, CEO and President of Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC.

John Lampe, CEO, Chairman and President of BFAH, pointed to Gonzalez “broad range of experience and excellent ‘people skills’ as factors that will serve Jorge and our company well in his new position, as he works to continue our strong progress in making our Latin American businesses a source of sustainable pride and profits for Bridgestone/Firestone.”

Gonzalez, 54, a native of Cuba, graduated from the University of Akron in 1971 with a Bachelors degree in Accounting. A thirty-four year veteran with the company, he joined the former Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in Akron as a computer operator. During his career he has held positions of increasing responsibilities in the United States and internationally including assignments as a retail store manager (Miami, Fla), assistant controller (Sao Paulo, Brazil and Madrid, Spain) and controller (Basel, Switzerland and Mexico City, Mexico). His two most recent assignments were as President of Bridgestone/Firestone Venezolana C.A. (1996 – 2001) and Bridgestone/Firestone de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. (2001 – present). Under his leadership, both the Venezuelan and Mexican operations have received numerous quality awards, including GM’s 2001 Supplier of the Year award presented to Bridgestone/Firestone’s Mexican operation in May, 2002.

“I have enjoyed my time in Mexico and in all my international assignments and I will miss the hands-on, day-to-day responsibility of running a business,” said Gonzalez. “However, I look forward to continuing and building on the strategy that has been developed to address the needs of each of the six local tire markets that comprise BFLA while balancing our company’s global tire supply requirements.”

Nashville-based Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, Inc. is a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation, the world’s largest tire and rubber company. BFAH, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of tires to address the needs of a broad range of customers, including consumers, automotive and commercial vehicle original equipment manufacturers and those in the agricultural, forestry and mining industries. The companies also produce Firestone air springs, roofing materials, synthetic rubber, and industrial fibers and textiles and operate the world’s largest chain of automotive tire and services centers. Bridgestone/Firestone Latin American Tire Operations is an operating unit of BFAH comprised tire manufacturing and sales subsidiaries located in Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Chile.