Bridgestone President Kaizaki to Resign

T O K Y O, Jan. 11 -- Japanese tire maker BridgestoneCorp said today its president and chief executive officer,Yoichiro Kaizaki, would resign, in an effort to salvage thecompany's image after a costly and controversial tire recall.

Kaizaki will be replaced by senior managing director and engineering veteran Shigeo Watanabe, but he will remain as afull-time adviser to Bridgestone's board of directors.

"The most important issue for the Bridgestone group right nowis restoration of our brand and regaining trust," Watanabe, 58,told a news conference.

The company recalled 6.5 million tires and was hit bymultiple lawsuits after 148 U.S. traffic deaths were linked toFirestone brand tires made by its U.S. subsidiary,Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. Most of the accidents also involvedFord Motor Co's popular Explorer sport utility vehicles.

Kaizaki and Ford executives have tried to pin blame for theaccidents on each other, spurring criticism that Bridgestone wasmore focused on ducking responsibility than on restoring faith inthe century-old Firestone brand.

"Investors were gradually becoming angry with how he washandling the crisis," said UBS Warburg analyst Christopher Redl.

Kaizaki had been a strong manager and his handling of therecall itself was praiseworthy, but his approach to the publicrelations crisis had fallen short, Redl said.

Some analysts looked upon Kaizaki's resignation favorably,including Seiji Sugiura, auto analyst at Nomura Securities.

"It's probably a sign that the company's near some sort ofclosure on the recall," he said.

Winning Back Trust

Fallout from the recall dealt a severe blow to bothBridgestone and Ford. The recall cost Ford, the world'ssecond-largest automaker behind General Motors Corp., about $500million in the third quarter. It prompted Bridgestone to slashprofit estimates for last year by 80 percent.

The outgoing Kaizaki underlined the company's commitment torebuilding its image.

"I decided on this move to strengthen our management in arapidly changing global environment and to win back the trust ofour customers and shareholders," he said.