At the start of April, Richard Lyons became executive managing director of Kumho Tyre UK. Lyons joins the company after roughly seven years with Trelleborg Wheel Systems in a variety of roles, latterly as managing director UK and Ireland. Before that, Lyons spent around 11 years with Giti where he oversaw significant growth at the company and rose to the role of managing director Europe and director – International sales and marketing, passenger car.
Trelleborg’s reorganisation, which gave greater prominence to tyres and wheels via its Trelleborg Wheel Systems business, was detailed at the end of February, just prior to the global spread of Covid-19 causing monumental disruption throughout Europe. Tyres & Accessories commented at the time that we planned to meet UK managing director Richard Lyons for the first time since his January appointment at the event in Sweden – as it turned out, Lyons was unable to make the trip for reasons detailed later. At the end of June, T&A met Lyons – fittingly on Microsoft Teams – to discuss how the pandemic has affected the market and the company’s response to the challenges of 2020, in addition to talking about how he is settling into his new role within the company.
Elio Bartoli, EMEA president & global OEM at Trelleborg Wheel Systems (TWS) has announced several management changes to the Europe, Middle East and Africa regional organisation, all of which came into effect on 1 January, 2020. The announcement follows the news of Richard Lyons’s appointment as its new UK managing director.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems has announced that Richard Lyons has been appointed as managing director UK and Ireland for Trelleborg Wheel Systems effective 1 January 2020.
Richard Lyons has become Trelleborg wheel system’s industrial and construction general manager for the North Europe region. The latest move follows Lyons’ appointment as managing director of Trelleborg Wheel Systems UK operations and its Interfit fitting and fleet service business, which took place back in April 2016.
Dr Enki Tan, executive chairman of Giti Tire, has announced that Stefan Fischer and Corrado Moglia have been appointed as managing directors – Europe. The news follows the resignation of Richard Lyons, who has left the company with immediate effect. Prior to his resignation, Lyons was managing director Giti Tire (Europe) and director – International Sales & Marketing, Passenger Car.
A new sales and marketing director has been appointed to look after Giti Tire’s passenger car and light truck activities in the ‘D-A-CH’ markets of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As sales and marketing director – PCR, Tobias Stöckmann will work closely with long-term regional partner Reifen Gundlach and other distributors to significantly increase market share for the GT Radial brand, while identifying new sales strategies and customers for Primewell and Runway. Stöckmann and his team are also tasked with maintaining robust market intelligence programmes, further developing retail, promotional and media strategies, and they will also monitor and input into the company’s rolling five-year product development plan.
Confirmation has been given that Giti Tire’s former head of passenger car tyre sales and marketing, Hervé Richert, has been appointed president of French transport systems specialist Lohr S.A. Richert joined Lohr as vice-president in May 2015, and at the time company head Robert Lohr referred to him as the firm’s “future president.”
Following his appointment as Giti international director – marketing and sales, Tyres & Accessories recently caught up with Richard Lyons at the company’s UK headquarters in Cheshire and asked what’s behind the promotion. Answering, Lyons explained by putting the announcement in the context of “continual development” at Giti. In this respect Lyons’ words fit into what the company’s top management are saying on the subject.
Stephan Giesecke has been appointed Giti Tire’s first dedicated truck and bus marketing manager for the GT Radial brand in the D-A-CH region. The tyre maker has employed Giesecke in this German, Austrian and Swiss market role to assist its aims of further boosting the brand’s profile and augmenting sales.
Giti Tire managing director – Europe, Richard Lyons has been appointed director of international marketing & sales for passenger car. Lyons will retain his role within Europe while increasing the scope of his responsibility for Giti passenger car tyres. Complementing the role fulfilled by Chris Bloor, director of international marketing & sales for commercial tyres, they are jointly responsible for all commercial and product activities outside of the Chinese and Indonesian markets across the replacement and original equipment initiatives, the manufacturer states.
Giti Tire has promoted Ashleigh Warren to marketing manager UK – passenger car and light truck. The company stated that Warren has “excelled in the company’s truck and bus division,” since her appointment in May 2012. She will work closely with distributors on retail, product and media strategies across the manufacturer’s brands – GT Radial, Primewell and Runway – as the company aims to augment its independent dealer network and increase prominence of its expanding tyre portfolios.
Giti Tire has strengthened its passenger and light truck tyre division in the German-speaking, or D-A-CH region with the appointment of Thomas Wurst-Kornacker as retail network development manager and Katharina Kremer as marketing manager.
It’s been a year since Tyres & Accessories first met the recently-appointed head of Giti Tire’s new R&D Centre Europe. At the time, R&D director Stefan Fischer shared the tyre maker’s plans and showed off the still largely-empty premises where specialists would soon be hard at work. A lot has changed in 12 months: Upon returning to the Hannover, Germany-based facility, we saw it was well and truly up and running and, in the important area of original equipment development, even further established than originally planned.
Giti Tire’s Michael Kaletta (45) has died suddenly, following a heart attack on Friday 26 September. A small private ceremony attended by family, friends and many of his colleagues was held on 2 October. The company described itself as shocked and saddened by Kaletta’s untimely passing. Richard Lyons, managing director – Europe, stated: “At the […]
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Scott Parker-Copestick/Tyre Industry Publications Ltd
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