She is an external board director at Bridgestone Tire, foodmaker Ajinomoto and department store operator J.

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Since November 14 these developments have powered rises in the stocks of Fuji Heavy Industries (PINK:FUJHY) by 200%, of Bridgestone Tire (PINK:BRDCY) by 85%, and Honda Motors (NYSE:HMC) by 60%.

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There's been no talk of a strike, and it wasn't clear whether the union would use the talks as a pattern to set the stage for negotiations during the summer with tire makers Bridgestone-Firestone and Michelin-BFGoodrich.

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Pirelli replaced Bridgestone as F1's tire supplier in 2011, winning a three-year contract.

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"You have to look at a Super Bowl ad as more than just a commercial, " says John Baratta, president of Bridgestone 's consumer replacement tire division.

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Sony recently filed a complaint against Bridgestone Tires over an advertisement featuring the same actor, allegedly portraying Kevin Butler as a Bridgestone employee, endorsing its tire products and a promotional program featuring the competing Nintendo Wii game system.

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Pirelli, which replaced Bridgestone as Formula One's tire supplier in 2011, argues that it is only responding to calls for more eventful racing.

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Bridgestone , the game's official tire sponsor, has already seeded two commercials on its site.

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Six years ago, Bridgestone started four seasons as the sole tire supplier and took a more conservative approach.

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