Bridgestone Europe (BSEU) has announced senior management appointments effective from January 1, 2012.

Franco Annunziato, currently BSEU’s chief quality officer, senior vice president technology and member of the board of BSEU, will become CEO and president of BSEU, succeeding Makio (Mac) Ohashi.

The company also announced that Mitsuhira (Mike) Shimazaki, currently BSEU’s senior vice president sales and marketing, will assume the newly created role of chief operating officer (COO) reporting to Annunziato.

In his new role as COO, the sales and marketing organisations will continue to report to Shimazaki and he will assume additional responsibility for manufacturing and supply chain management.