Goodyear hires Bridgestone exec Bayman to head European consumer sales

Brussels — Goodyear has hired Bridgestone Europe sales executive Hakan Bayman to be president of its European consumer tire business, responsible for business unit planning and execution throughout the region.

Bayman joins Goodyear after more than 15 years at Bridgestone, where he held various general management roles, including senior vice president of CIS, Russia, Middle East & Africa (CMA), global solutions strategy lead at Bridgestone headquarters in Japan, and CEO of Brisa – Bridgestone Sabanc? Tire in Turkey.

"Hakan brings deep industry experience in both customer-facing and marketing capacities, and I am enormously confident in his ability to drive value for our customers and make it easy to buy, own and recommend Goodyear tires," Chris Delaney, president Goodyear Europe/Middle East/Africa, said.

The appointment will be effective 1 July. This is a new "strategic-level" executive position.

Bayman's corporate experience also includes a decade in various marketing roles at Kraft Heinz Co., Coca-Cola Co. and Henkel Corp.

In his new role, Bayman will focus on identifying initiatives to accelerate Goodyear's consumer tire business in Europe and continuing to drive the strategic investments Goodyear has made in recent years.

These will include a "refresh" of the company's consumer product portfolio, a realignment of its distribution network and the return of the Goodyear brand to international motorsport.