Bridgestone announces appointment of new CEO
27 June 2019 – Bridgestone South Africa is pleased to announce the appointment of Jacques Fourie as CEO of the company, effective 1 July 2019. Mr Fourie replaces Gavin Young, who stepped down on 7 June. Mr Fourie has had a distinguished career at Cummins Rocky Mountain, a leading manufacturer of engineering equipment.
“We are delighted that an executive of Jacques Fourie’s calibre and experience will be leading Bridgestone South Africa into the future. His track record speaks for itself, and in particular his expertise in manufacturing will be invaluable as the company repositions itself to take advantage of new opportunities,” says Mete Ekin, Regional Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa at Bridgestone.
Jacques Fourie’s 14-year career at Cummins started in 2004 as the Finance Manager for Cummins Southern Africa before transitioning as Finance Director for Cummins Africa in 2006.
In 2008 he accepted an expatriate assignment and relocated with his family to West Africa as Managing Director for Cummins Ghana. In this role he was responsible for establishing the Cummins-owned distributor covering Ghana and neighbouring countries in West Africa. In February 2011, he relocated back to South Africa to assume the role of Managing Director for Cummins Southern Africa, a region covering 11 countries. Later in 2014, he assumed the role of Director of Sales and Marketing for Cummins Africa.
Since 2015, he has been based in Denver, Colorado in the United States, where he acted as Executive Vice President Operations, overseeing the manufacturing operations and company-owned branches in eight US states and a mining operation in Mexico. Mr Fourie became a President of Cummins Rocky Mountain in June 2017, from which date he also took responsibility for the Cummins Mining business segment in USA, Canada and Mexico.
Prior to joining Cummins, he was an auditor at Price Waterhouse Coopers with primary focus on the Commercial, Industrial and Production segments for large corporations.
Mr Fourie possesses a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Accounting (Honours) from the University of Pretoria and completed a Global Executive Development Program with the Gordon Institute of Business Science. He is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and Sponsor, and has been a member of the Young Presidents Organization since 2011.
“I am confident that Jacques has the leadership qualities and business acumen that Bridgestone South Africa needs to realise its strategic goals. I wish him and the South African team all the best in the future,” Mr Ekin concludes.