Kramer to Retire as Chairman, CEO and President
Laurette Koellner, Independent
Lead Director, Named Board Chair
AKRON,
Ohio, Jan. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Goodyear
Tire & Rubber Company (NASDAQ: GT) today announced that
Mark Stewart has been elected Chief
Executive Officer and President, effective January 29, 2024. He will succeed Richard J. Kramer, who previously announced his
planned retirement from the company following 24 years of service,
including 14 as Chairman, CEO and President. On the effective date,
Laurette T. Koellner, Independent
Lead Director of Goodyear's Board since 2019, will become
non-executive Board Chair, and Stewart will be added to the
Goodyear Board as a director.
Stewart joins Goodyear from Stellantis, a leading global
automaker and provider of innovative mobility solutions, where he
served as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of North America and a member of the Group
Executive Council, leading a business unit with more than 88,000
employees and more than $90 billion
in revenue. During his tenure, Stewart led the region's EV
transformation, introducing the first electrified Jeep in the U.S.
market, which remains the number one selling plug-in hybrid EV for
three years running. Under his leadership, the region enjoyed
significant, industry-leading increases in both margin and cash
flow, despite the semiconductor shortage and a hyper-competitive
U.S. market.
Previously, Stewart served as vice president, Customer
Fulfillment, at Amazon, serving as the lead executive for customer
fulfillment across 200 operations facilities in North America, leading operations,
procurement, construction and engineering and teams dedicated to
pursuing automation, artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and
conveyance.
Prior to Amazon, Stewart was executive vice president and COO
for ZF TRW Automotive, a role culminating from over two decades of
increasing responsibility, starting with plant, production and
quality management roles and advancing to lead Tower Automotive's
Western Europe business as
executive vice president, TRW's North America Passenger Car and
Commercial Global Steering business as vice president and general
manager and TRW's Asia Pacific
business as vice president. Over the course of his career, Stewart
has overseen diverse manufacturing and fulfillment operations
across the globe, and has been based in the U.S., Belgium, Germany and China.
Koellner said, "Following an ongoing and active succession
planning process culminating in a comprehensive search, the Board
is confident Mark is the ideal CEO for Goodyear as we continue
executing against the Goodyear Forward plan. Mark is a seasoned
automotive executive and proven operator, with a track record of
driving innovation and commercial excellence. He brings the perfect
mix of international experience, history of successfully managing
through business cycles and operational expertise, with a deep
commitment to building strong, diverse and inclusive teams. We are
pleased to welcome a leader of his caliber as we focus on our
transformation plan to deliver profitable growth and long-term
shareholder value."
Stewart said, "I am honored and humbled to join Goodyear at such
a pivotal time in its history. I have deep respect and admiration
for everything Rich and the Goodyear team have accomplished
together. Goodyear is an iconic company with an unmatched brand,
industry-leading innovation and significant opportunity for growth.
I am confident that Goodyear Forward is the right strategy to
unlock the Company's full potential in its next chapter. I look
forward to working alongside the talented team around the globe as
we drive sustainable and substantial value together."
Koellner continued, "Over the course of 24 years with the
Company and 14 years as CEO, Rich demonstrated an unwavering
dedication to Goodyear, our customers and our associates. This
commitment continued in full force following his notification to
the board of his planned retirement, and is evidenced by the
continued advancement of our business models and creation of clear
competitive advantages over the last couple of years, as well as
leading our strategic and operational review to set the company up
for future success. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I
thank Rich for his remarkable leadership at Goodyear and commitment
to supporting a smooth transition."
Kramer said, "It has been an honor and privilege to lead this
great company during my 14 years as CEO. I am proud of Goodyear's
progress and am forever grateful to our associates, our customers
and our partners, without whom none of our achievements would have
been possible. I look forward to working with Mark through the
transition."
Kramer will continue to serve Goodyear in an advisory capacity
to ensure a smooth transition.
About Mark Stewart
Mark Stewart brings an extensive
background in the automotive industry and deep expertise in global
operations management, with experience across business development,
manufacturing, engineering and procurement. Most recently, Stewart
served as COO of North America and
a member of the Group Executive Council at Stellantis.
Previously, Stewart served as Vice President, Customer
Fulfillment at Amazon, where he led automation and AI efforts and
spearheaded initiatives to eliminate waste and optimize the
organization. Earlier in his career, he served as COO of ZF Group,
where he oversaw $19 billion in
revenue and held significant integration responsibilities and Vice
President of TRW Automotive, where he oversaw operations in
Belgium, France and Germany.
He spent the first years of his career in manufacturing, leading
plants and operations for TRW Inc., and later Tower Automotive,
Inc. Stewart earned an M.B.A. from The University of Tennessee-Knoxville and a B.E. in
Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Vanderbilt University.
About Laurette
Koellner
Laurette Koellner, former member
of The Boeing Company Office of the Chairman, was elected to
the Board of Directors of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber
Company in 2015, becoming Independent Lead Director in 2019. While
at Boeing, Koellner also served as President of Boeing
International and President of Connexion by Boeing®. She has also
served on six other boards and is currently a director for
Celestica Inc. (since 2009), Papa Johns International, Inc. (since
2014) and Nucor Corporation (since 2015).
About The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
Goodyear is one of the world's largest tire companies. It
employs about 74,000 people and manufactures its products in 57
facilities in 23 countries around the world. Its two Innovation
Centers in Akron, Ohio, and
Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to
develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the
technology and performance standard for the industry. For more
information about Goodyear and its products, go to
www.goodyear.com/corporate.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information contained in this news release constitutes
forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor
provisions of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
There are a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our
control, that affect our operations, performance, business strategy
and results and could cause our actual results and experience to
differ materially from the assumptions, expectations and objectives
expressed in any forward-looking statements. These factors include,
but are not limited to: our ability to implement successfully our
cost reduction and rationalization actions and other strategic
initiatives, including the Goodyear Forward plan and any other
initiatives that may be announced in the future; a prolonged
economic downturn or period of economic uncertainty; increases in
the prices paid for raw materials and energy; inflationary
cost pressures; delays or disruptions in our supply chain or the
provision of services to us; changes in tariffs, trade agreements
or trade restrictions; actions and initiatives taken by both
current and potential competitors; deteriorating economic
conditions or an inability to access capital markets; a labor
strike, work stoppage, labor shortage or other similar event;
financial difficulties, work stoppages, labor shortages or supply
disruptions at our suppliers or customers; the adequacy of our
capital expenditures; foreign currency translation and transaction
risks; our failure to comply with a material covenant in our debt
obligations; potential adverse consequences of litigation involving
the company; as well as the effects of more general factors such as
changes in general market, economic or political conditions or in
legislation, regulation or public policy. Additional factors are
discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. In addition,
any forward-looking statements represent our estimates only as of
today and should not be relied upon as representing our estimates
as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update
forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we
specifically disclaim any obligation to do so, even if our
estimates change.
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SOURCE The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company