Bridgestone Americas has expanded its key leadership roles to further its commitment towards sustainable mobility solutions and reinforce its core tyre business.

Scott Damon, currently Group President, Operations, has been named Chief Operating Officer. In his new role, Damon will look after the company’s core tyre business, which includes original equipment, replacement and retread tyre businesses for the consumer, commercial truck and bus, off-the-Road (OTR), Ag and Latin America segments. Damon will also retain responsibility for the company’s manufacturing, LSCM, quality and procurement functions.

Chief Technology Officer Nizar Trigui will now serve as Chief Technology Officer and Group President, Solutions Businesses. Trigui will now have accountability for the company’s Mobility Solutions, IT and Circular Economy strategies. He will also handle R&D, technology and all Akron, Ohio-based operations.

Gabriel Asbun, currently Group President, Americas Tyre and Solutions Business, has been named Group President, Integrated Businesses. Asbun will be responsible for Bridgestone Retail Operations (BSRO), Firestone Industrial Products and the company’s Credit First National Association (CFNA) consumer credit division.

Craig Schneider, who had a significant role in the sale of Firestone Building Products, has been named Chief Strategy Officer. Schneider will continue to help realise the company’s global strategies outlined in the Bridgestone Mid-Long Term Business Plan through portfolio shaping, partnership development and M&A activities.

Commenting on the new organisational structure, Paolo Ferrari, President and CEO, Bridgestone Americas, said “As Bridgestone continues to grow its efforts in the areas of mobility solutions and sustainability, it is imperative we create the necessary alignment within Bridgestone Americas to effectively realise our goals locally and globally. We have built a strong leadership team within Bridgestone Americas, and this new organisational structure strikes the right balance between execution on our core tyre business and the further development of our medium and long-term sustainable and mobility solutions platforms.” (TT)

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The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) has elected David Cichocki, Managing Director, Americas, and chief sales officer, Americas Consumer, at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, to its board of directors.

“I’m pleased to welcome David to our Board. His extensive experience and expertise across the tire and consumer goods industries will be invaluable as we navigate today’s complex industry,” said Anne Forristall Luke, USTMA president and chief executive. “His proven leadership will strengthen our ability to seize emerging opportunities.”

Cichocki joined Goodyear in early 2026 and is responsible for overseeing the Americas region and leading the company’s Americas Consumer sales business.

He brings more than 30 years of leadership experience across industrial and consumer goods companies to the USTMA board.

Before joining Goodyear, Cichocki served as senior vice-president of US sales at Whirlpool, where he managed a portfolio valued at more than $10bn across retail and direct-to-consumer channels.

He also spent more than 20 years at Kraft Foods and Nabisco in a range of senior leadership roles.

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The Indian rubber and tyre machinery industry is mourning the passing of Daljeet Niranjan Singh, Founder of Santosh Rubber Machinery Pvt Ltd, who passed away yesterday. A prayer meeting in his memory will be held on 23^rd May 2026 in Mumbai.

Singh was recognised as a pioneering entrepreneur and industry veteran who played a key role in developing India’s rubber processing machinery sector. Under his leadership, Santosh Rubber Machinery grew into one of the country’s well-known manufacturers of rubber processing equipment, serving customers across the tyre, rubber goods, and industrial manufacturing industries.

Established in 1966, Santosh Rubber Machinery has built a strong reputation for engineering excellence and a wide product portfolio covering rubber mixing mills, dispersion kneaders, extruders, calender machines, hydraulic presses, autoclaves, and tyre recycling systems. The Mumbai-based company operates a 36,000 sq ft manufacturing facility and offers one of the largest ranges of rubber processing machinery under a single roof in India.

The company also earned recognition for its export performance and engineering excellence. Santosh Rubber Machinery has won many export awards. Most recently, it was honoured with the 23rd Export Award for Excellence in Export for Machinery Manufacturing by the All India Rubber Industries Association (AIRIA), underlining its strong presence in international markets and longstanding contribution to the rubber machinery industry.

Industry associates remembered Singh as a visionary founder, respected mentor, and a man of integrity whose dedication and technical understanding helped shape Santosh Rubber Machinery’s growth over nearly six decades.

According to the family notice, the prayer meet will take place from 5 pm to 7 pm on 23 May 2026 at 1st Floor MPH, Tower A, Esquire by Oberoi Realty, Oberoi Garden City, Goregaon East, Mumbai.

He is survived by his family, loved ones and colleagues, who said his legacy and values will continue to inspire the industry for years to come.

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Apollo Tyres plans to invest INR 35 billion in FY2026-27, with nearly 80 percent of the capital expenditure earmarked for growth and capacity expansion projects across India and Europe, as the tyre maker seeks to meet strong demand despite escalating raw material costs and geopolitical disruption.

Most of the planned investment will be directed towards expanding truck and passenger car tyre capacity in India, while the remainder will support passenger car tyre expansion at the company’s Hungary plant.

Apollo Tyres said capacity utilisation across both India and Europe had reached about 90 percent, with demand remaining strong in replacement and original equipment markets. The company added that April volumes had continued to show strong momentum despite recent price increases.

The company reported consolidated revenue of INR 73.4 billion for the fourth quarter, up more than 14 percent year on year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin improved to 14.6 percent from 13 per cent a year earlier.

Revenue from Indian operations rose 14.3 percent to INR 52.4 billion during the quarter, supported by high-teen volume growth in both replacement and original equipment segments.

Neeraj Kanwar, Vice-Chairman And Managing Director, said geopolitical developments in West Asia continued to create uncertainty and volatility across raw material, energy and logistics costs.

The company expects raw material costs to rise by mid- to high-teens sequentially during the current quarter, led by a sharp increase in natural rubber prices. Apollo Tyres said natural rubber prices had risen to about INR 250 per kg from around INR 200 per kg during the fourth quarter.

To mitigate the pressure, Apollo Tyres has announced price increases of 6-8 percent across product categories in India during the current quarter and indicated that further increases may be necessary.

Gaurav Kumar, Chief Financial Officer, said the inflationary environment remained highly volatile.

“Mid to high teens is the current reality,” Kumar said. “We’ve taken about half the price increase that is needed.”

The company said it was also implementing cost-control measures across operations, including reductions in discretionary spending, as it sought to protect margins from higher commodity and logistics costs.

Apollo Tyres continues to restructure its European manufacturing operations as part of efforts to improve profitability. The company said the closure of its Enschede plant in the Netherlands remained on schedule, with production expected to cease by June 30.

Management said the decision was driven by persistently weak European market conditions, elevated energy costs and unusually high wage inflation in western Europe.

Apollo Tyres has taken a non-cash write-off of EUR 43 million related to the plant closure and expects total restructuring-related cash outflow, including social plan payments and legal costs, to exceed EUR 55m.

The company said the restructuring should begin improving European margins during the second half of FY2026-27 as production shifts towards lower-cost facilities in Hungary and India.

Apollo Tyres added that India and Europe would remain priority markets for future capacity allocation decisions, although export demand in some overseas markets had softened amid broader macroeconomic uncertainty.

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Linglong Tire has appointed Pradeep Karat as Sales Director OTR for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, effective from the beginning of May 2026.

Karat will oversee strategy and sales for the company’s specialty tyres division across the MEA region and report to Jeffrey Hughes, director EMEA. He will work with product and marketing teams to expand the group’s presence in the off-the-road (OTR) tyre segment, develop strategic partnerships and support growth in new markets.

Before joining Linglong, Karat worked at Hankook Tire, where he most recently served as senior manager for truck tyre sales in the Middle East and Africa.

Over a career spanning more than 30 years, he has held sales and marketing management roles at tyre manufacturers including Bridgestone, Goodyear and Continental.

“I am very pleased to be part of the Linglong team with immediate effect and to start as Linglong Sales Director Middle East Africa. I will do everything I can to use my experience and expertise to successfully advance Linglong in the MEA region,” said Karat.

Linglong said Karat would focus on strengthening the company’s position in India and key African markets. He will also work closely with Sherif Degheidy, who joined the company in February.

“I have worked with Pradeep in the Middle East in the past and am very pleased that he is now joining Linglong to help us continue to grow our off-highway business,” Hughes said.

“He brings extensive knowledge of the region, knows how to find new distributors and build strong partnerships. Pradeep will seek to expand Linglong's presence in India as well as in key African markets.”

Karat holds a master’s degree in marketing and economics and speaks Arabic, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam, in addition to English. He will be based in Dubai.

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