Goodyear Names New CEO

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced that Mark Stewart will take over as Chief Executive Officer and President on January 29, 2024. He will succeed Richard J. Kramer, who has served the company for 24 years and held the positions of Chairman, CEO, and President for 14 years. 

Laurette T. Koellner, who has served as an Independent Lead Director of Goodyear’s Board since 2019, will become non-executive Board Chair on the effective date. Additionally, Mark Stewart will be added to the Goodyear Board as a director.

Stewart has recently joined Goodyear from Stellantis, which is a leading global automaker and provider of innovative mobility solutions. At Stellantis, he held the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) of North America and was a member of the Group Executive Council. He led a business unit with more than 88,000 employees and generated over $90 billion in revenue. 

During his tenure, Stewart was instrumental in leading the region's EV transformation, introducing the first electrified Jeep in the U.S. market. This vehicle remained the top-selling plug-in hybrid EV for three consecutive years. Despite the semiconductor shortage and a hyper-competitive U.S. market, he managed to deliver significant, industry-leading increases in both margin and cash flow for the region.

“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,” Stewart said.

Stewart has an impressive career history. He previously served as the vice president of Customer Fulfillment at Amazon, where he was responsible for leading customer fulfillment across 200 operations facilities in North America. He was in charge of operations, procurement, construction, engineering, and teams dedicated to pursuing automation, artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, and conveyance.

Before that, Stewart was the executive vice president and COO for ZF TRW Automotive. He held this role after over two decades of increasing responsibility, starting from plant, production, and quality management roles. He worked his way up 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.

Throughout his career, Stewart has overseen diverse manufacturing and fulfillment operations across the globe. He has worked in the U.S., Belgium, Germany, and China.
 
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.