Bridgestone Americas has named Eric Higgs president of truck, bus, and retread tires in the U.S. and Canada, effective Sept. 1.

Higgs is currently vice president of marketing, commercial group, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. He succeeds Joseph Saoud, who has assumed the president of Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations Latin America.

As president, Higgs will lead sales, distribution, and business planning for Bridgestone's commercial tire and retread business in North America. He will oversee the development of innovative new products, technologies, and services for original equipment manufacturers, fleet customers, and commercial tire dealers, according to the company.

Steve Sutherland, current executive director, sales, distribution and global accounts, Firestone Ag, will assume the role that Higgs is vacating.

“This is a pivotal time for our industry as new technologies and data-driven platforms are impacting the way fleet owners and managers do business,” said Scott Damon, president, commercial group, U.S. and Canada, BATO. “Eric has demonstrated his ability to anticipate these shifts and pioneer new ways to create value for our customers and dealers.”

Higgs joined Bridgestone in 2016 and has more than 20 years of leadership experience in global business roles. Prior to joining Bridgestone, he worked at Kimberly-Clark as general manager for the Hands & Face category. He also spent 18 years at Procter & Gamble in multiple marketing and manufacturing roles.

Higgs earned a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has a Master of Business Administration from Duke University.