Bridgestone President Resigns

Bridgestone President and Chief Executive Yoichiro Kaizaki will step down from his post in March this year, the company announced on Thursday.

Bridgestone, which owns the American Firestone brand, is the world's largest tyre company with 1999 sales of more than $20 billion, and it was the only Formula One tyre supplier since Goodyear's withdrawal at the end of 1998.

Kaizaki's resignation is thought to be a bid to regain the investor's confidence in the Japanese company following a recall of more than 6.5 million tyres in the United States.

Bridgestone's subsidiary Firestone was forced to make a recall of the tyres that were mostly fitted to the Ford Explorer range of vehicles after the crashes associated with allegedly faulty tyres caused the death of 148 people, with over 500 more injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Bridgestone/Firestone admitted there was a design problem on the tyres manufactured at its plant in Decatur, Illinois, and the company is already facing more than 200 lawsuits due to tyre-related accidents.

Kaizaki will be replaced by Shigeo Watanabe.

Bridgestone will be joined this season by French manufacturer Michelin, who returns to Formula One after an absence of fifteen years.