Bridgestone/Firestone Announces Organization Shifts

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (December 12, 2002) - Bridgestone/Firestone North American Tire, LLC (BFNT) today announced several management changes in its manufacturing and quality assurance functions.

Nobuo (“Tim”) Kawakami, president, Bridgestone/Firestone Manufacturing Operations (BFMO), the manufacturing unit of BFNT, and an executive vice president of Bridgestone/Firestone Americas Holding, Inc. (BFAH), has elected to retire effective March 31, 2003. Assuming Kawakami’s responsibilities at BFMO is Masao Wada, currently plant manager of the company’s Aiken County, South Carolina facility. Wada will be elected to the position of BFNT executive vice president manufacturing effective February 1, 2003 and Kawakami will be available to assist in the transition until such time as he retires. Succeeding Wada at the company’s Aiken County plant will be Mike Rose, currently that facility’s operations manager.

Also effective February 1, 2003, John McQuade, BFMO vice president manufacturing, will be accepting a new assignment as a full time member of the team responsible for the 2003 round of labor negotiations with the United Steelworkers of America. The negotiations are expected to begin in Spring, 2003. Succeeding McQuade will be Steve Brooks, presently vice president of quality assurance. Mike Kane, currently manager quality assurance, will become vice president quality assurance for both BFNT and BFAH, BFNT’s parent company.

Commenting on the changes to the organization, Mark Emkes, chairman, CEO and president of BFNT, said “A clear focus on the business and loyalty to the company are clearly part of the BFNT culture. Each of the individuals named here embody those traits and are strong leaders with the vision and the ability to support our company as it works to ‘Make it Right.’ Our goal with this announcement, as with any change to our organization, is to celebrate and preserve the advancements we have achieved through this focus and loyalty and continue to build on that strong base.”

“ I am sorry to see Tim leave BFMO,” continued Emkes. “However I know that he will now have the opportunity to return to Japan and enjoy a well-deserved retirement. Tim is a person whose ability to focus on the task at hand and to execute and complete complex projects is unmatched.” It was under Kawakami’s leadership that the Aiken County team completed the construction of that plant in record time, producing its first tire just one year after the project was announced. The Aiken County plant is now one of the premier tire manufacturing facilities in the world.

Graduating from Niigata University in Japan, Kawakami joined Bridgestone Corporation in 1964. In 1982, Kawakami received his first U.S. assignment at Bridgestone USA’s first U.S. tire plant in LaVergne, Tenn., which had just been purchased from the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company. Following the purchase of the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company by Bridgestone, Kawakami’s career in the U.S. included assignments in Wilson, NC and Akron, Ohio. Returning to Japan in 1991, Kawakami served as plant manager of Bridgestone’s Shimonoseki and Hikone facilities. In 1997 he returned to the U.S. to oversee the design and construction of BFNT’s Aiken County plant, serving as that facility’s first plant manager. He was promoted to his current position in 2000.

Wada, who will be relocating to Nashville, Tenn. in the near future, has significant experience in U.S. manufacturing plants. Joining Bridgestone in 1971, his first assignment in the United States was at the LaVergne facility as a manufacturing advisor in 1983.

Assignments at BFNT’s Warren County, Tenn. and Decatur, Ill. followed in 1988 and 1993, respectively. After returning to Japan for a series of jobs with Bridgestone beginning in 1994, Wada was appointed plant manager of BFNT’s Aiken County facility in February, 2002.

Succeeding Wada at the Aiken County plant, Rose joined the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in 1972 at the LaVergne, Tenn. plant. He accepted a position as an instructor at the company’s Wilson, NC plant in 1974 and has held positions of increasing responsibility at that facility and the Aiken County plant, where he was first assigned as a group leader in 1998. Rose, who holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from North Carolina Wesleyan College, has served in his current position as operations manager since January, 2002.

McQuade is a 38 year veteran of Firestone and Bridgestone/Firestone, beginning his career with the company in England in 1964. He has focused his efforts in the manufacturing area, with assignments as technical manager, production manager and plant manager at a number of the company’s locations, including the Russellville, Ark. tube plant and the company’s Joliette, Quebec, LaVergne, Tenn. and Wilson, NC tire plants. He assumed his current responsibilities as BFMO vice president manufacturing in 2001. McQuade earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees in business administration from McMaster University.

Prior to accepting his current assignment as vice president quality assurance in February 2002, Brooks has had experience in plant environments since 1989, when he joined the company at its Warren County, Tenn. facility. His duties have included area manager, division manager production control and division manager operations at Warren County and general manager and plant manager at the company’s Aiken County operation. He and Wada were both integral members of the startup team at the Warren County plant in 1989.

Kane has had a broad range of experience with the company in functional areas as diverse as manufacturing, Quality Assurance and the Law Department. He began his career with Firestone as an experimental tire assembler in Akron, Ohio in 1973. He has served in various capacities in the Law Department and his duties have included assignments as logistics manager at the Wilson, NC plant and group leader at the Aiken County facility. He assumed his current responsibilities as manager quality engineering in 2002. Kane holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from Vanderbilt University.

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 North American Tire, LLC, a subsidiary of BFAH, 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.