Bridgestone Americas (Bridgestone) announced Steve Hoeft will assume the role of president of its Commercial Truck Group, effective immediately. The Commercial Truck Group includes Bridgestone's Truck & Bus Radial (TBR) business.

Hoeft has been with Bridgestone since 2017 and previously served as chief operating officer (COO) for the Commercial Truck Group. In his new role, he will be responsible for setting Bridgestone’s go-to-market strategy for the Bridgestone and Firestone commercial TBR business. Hoeft will oversee a team that works closely with commercial original equipment manufacturers and fleet customers to deliver best-in-class products and truck tires, services and solutions that maximize uptime and make mobility safer, more sustainable, and more efficient.

“Steve is an excellent leader and has been an integral part of the Commercial Truck Group leadership team for the last several years,” said Riccardo Cichi, president, core tire and chief sales officer for Bridgestone Americas. “As we continue our journey to become a world leader in sustainable mobility solutions, the commercial truck group will play a vital role with strategic partnerships and innovative solutions that propel Bridgestone into the future. We look forward to continued success under his leadership.”

Who is Hoeft? 

Hoeft joined Bridgestone in 2017 from Brinks Inc., where he served as senior vice president and general manager of Operations and Product Development and was responsible for all operations in the U.S. and Canada. Before that, Hoeft spent five years working at Advance Auto Parts in management roles of increasing responsibility.

Hoeft holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Cleary University and an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

He succeeds Chris Ripani, who led the Commercial Truck Group since 2020.

According to Bridgestone, this key leadership appointment aligns with the Bridgestone E8 Commitment consisting of eight Bridgestone-like values starting with the letter “E” (Energy, Ecology, Efficiency, Extension, Economy, Emotion, Ease, and Empowerment) that Bridgestone has committed to creating together with employees, society, partners and customers to realize a sustainable society. This leadership appointment aligns with the company’s “Empowerment” and “Economy” commitments.

Did you know that in September 2022, Bridgestone partnered with AWS to launch new digital solutions? Bridgestone will accelerate the creation of digital platforms to launch new solutions for its customers, improve data analysis, and streamline IT operations. It also announced a $550 million investment to expand a truck tire plant to accelerate high-tech truck tires.