De Vries steps in as CEO; Wesseling will become COO, a newly-created role
Bridgestone has appointed Jan-Maarten de Vries and Michiel Wesseling as CEO and COO respectively of its Mobility Solutions (BMS) business unit. The appointments are effective 1 January 2021.
Thomas Schmidt, the co-founder of Webfleet, will be leaving Bridgestone and his role as CEO and Managing Director of the BMS business unit at the end of this year, the company announced via a press communiqué.
Schmidt-led Webfleet Solutions, formerly known as TomTom Telematics, to become Europe’s leading telematics business. In early 2019, the business was acquired by Bridgestone as a major milestone on its journey to become a leader in sustainable mobility.
In the time since then, Schmidt has been instrumental in the successful integration of the two businesses and the creation and leadership of BMS, which is now responsible for Bridgestone’s growing digital mobility solutions business.
Before joining Bridgestone, De Vries worked in global strategic and marketing leadership roles with WABCO, TomTom and Philips. Wesseling has spent the last 11 years of his career at Webfleet Solutions, of which more than eight were spent as VP Finance & Operations.
“Jan-Maarten and Michiel are two experienced and driven leaders who represent a new era for Bridgestone Mobility Solutions in a very important time for digital mobility. Our pipeline of in-house talent has once again been put to excellent use,” commented Laurent Dartoux, CEO, Bridgestone EMIA (Europe-Middle East-India-Africa).
