Career Tracks

Two key B2B appointments at Michelin
Michelin Tyre plc has announced key appointments to lead its B2B division covering the agricultural, bus/coach, earthmover, truck and van sectors. This sees Chris Smith, 34, appointed sales director B2B; and Helen Ratcliff, 38, named as marketing director – both with responsibility for the UK and Ireland.

UK engineering key to aftermarket success: National Auto Parts MD, David Houlden
National Auto Parts has responded to the government’s call to make 2018 the “Year of Engineering” by claiming that high quality skilled engineers are essential to securing a prosperous future for the UK automotive aftermarket.
Titan International not renewing CFO Froisland’s contract
James M. Froisland will leave Titan International later this year. The company announced yesterday that the chief financial officer and chief information officer has been informed his employment agreement won’t be renewed once the initial term expires on 5 December 2018.
EDT Automotive sponsors ‘Garage of the Year’ awards
EDT Automotive, will be one of the headline sponsors of Automechanika Birmingham’s 2018 ‘Garage of the Year’ ceremony, in association with Garage Wire. Held on Tuesday 5 June at Aston Villa FC’s Directors Club, the event will honour the unsung heroes of the automotive aftermarket in categories such as best small and large garage, best community initiative, technology and business innovation, and ‘Auto-mechanik’ of the year.
Goodyear names new senior director of investor relations
Nicholas Mitchell has joined the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company as senior director of investor relations. He reports to Christina Zamarro, who has taken on expanded responsibilities as vice-president of corporate financial planning and analysis (FP&A) and investor relations.

Italian tyre association Federpneus names new president
Giancarlo Veronesi has been appointed president of Italian tyre trade association Federpneus (National Association of Tyre Specialists). The co-owner of Euromaster Pneus Estense in the city of Ferrara has been the association’s vice-president since 2015 and for many years assisted Guido Schiavon, who served as president of Federpneus from 1995 until his unexpected death in early March 2018.
Cooper Tire CFO Ginger Jones to retire
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has announced the planned retirement as a full-time executive of Ginger Jones, senior vice president and chief financial officer. Jones intends to focus on serving on public company boards of directors.

Trico welcomes two new recruits
Trico has announced the appointment of Ben Callard as project introduction engineer and Leah Eversley-Boyd to the role of credit controller and finance analytics.
Solvay cutting 600 jobs
Solvay will cut 600 jobs as part of a broad restructuring program aimed at simplifying the organization. On 29 March the firm announced that job cuts related to the restructuring include 160 redundancies in France, 90 in Portugal and 80 in Brazil.

Pro-Align’s Kathryn Beaurain recognised for IMI Skill Auto support with award
Kathryn Beaurain, marketing director of wheel servicing equipment specialist Pro-Align, has been recognised by the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) for her ongoing support of the IMI Skill Auto competitions. Receiving one of five awards presented at the IMI’s Annual Dinner, Kathryn received the award for her Contribution to the Work of the IMI, having supported the industry’s Skill Auto competitions for the last six years.
Zenises’ Harjeev Kandhari wins 2018 INSEAD Alumni Emerging Entrepreneur award
Harjeev Kandhari, CEO of the Zenises Group, has been named this year’s winner of the INSEAD Alumni Emerging Entrepreneur Award. Harjeev was selected by an independent panel of judges out of an Alumni body of over 50,000 people.

New director at Michelin’s Bamberg tyre plant
As of 1 April, Jens Schlemmer is director of the Michelin car tyre factory in Bamberg, Germany. He returns to Michelin’s operation in his homeland after working in plants around the world these past 14 years. Former plant director Thomas Nagel has taken on a new leadership role within the Michelin group.

Nokian Tyres’ CFO Anne Leskelä to leave company
Anne Leskelä, Nokian Tyres’ chief financial officer and vice-president of Finance and IR, announced today her resignation from the company. She will continue in her position until the beginning of July 2018, and the Finnish tyre maker reports that the recruitment process to find a new chief financial officer will commence immediately.

Ceat’s Goenka becomes chairman of India’s ATMA
Anant Goenka, managing director of Ceat Ltd., has been elected chairman of Indian tyre industry body the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA). Rajeev Anand, chairman and managing director of Goodyear India Ltd., is the association’s new vice-chairman.

Mitchell Peeters joins cayla group
On 1 March 2018 Mitchell Peeters joined cayla group as senior director and will support activities in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions whilst adding extra resources to the consultancy’s Spanish speaking clients and partners.