BRUSSELS, Belgium (Feb. 24, 2011)—Franco Annunziato, chief quality officer and senior vice president of Bridgestone Europe, is the first European selected to take a senior position at parent company Bridgestone Corp.
The Italian national will take up his role of vice president and senior officer of the Japanese corporation on March 29, Bridgestone said.
Annunziato joined Bridgestone in 1982 and has held a number of positions within research and development, before becoming managing director of the Europe Technical center in 2004. He later added the positions of senior vice president of Bridgestone Europe and chief quality officer to his role.
He will continue to be based at Bridgestone's technical center close to Rome, the company said, where his team of about 500 engineers and chemists develop tires for the European original equipment and replacement markets.