Bridgestone hires Trigui as chief technology officer

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Bridgestone Americas has hired automotive supply industry veteran Nizar Trigui as chief technology officer.

Trigui, most recently CTO and executive vice president for Dura Automotive Systems L.L.C., assumes and will expand a role held by Steve Charles, vice president of product development for Bridgestone Americas.

Charles in turn will now be Bridgestone Americas' lead representative in a joint global effort to integrate and set strategic direction more effectively for Bridgestone Americas Center for Research and Technology, Firestone Polymers and Bridgestone's guayule rubber project.

"Nizar brings a tremendous amount of experience, leadership and vision in the areas of innovation, intellectual property development and commercialization of new products in the automotive industry," Gordon Knapp, CEO and president, Bridgestone Americas, said.

In his role at Dura, Trigui was responsible for leading corporate product strategy, technology portfolio and global product development. He also served concurrently as chairman for the Asia-Pacific region and general manager of the company's Electronics Division joint venture.

Prior to joining Dura, Trigui held a series of executive positions with Ford Motor Co. in the U.S. and Jaguar Land Rover in England, including global chief engineer of sustainable mobility.

Charles has held his current post since February 2015, when he succeeded Hideo Hara who returned to Japan after 16 years with Bridgestone Americas. Charles joined the company in 1981 when it was still Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. as a junior engineer in the commercial development department.