The sales and marketing teams at Bridgestone and Firestone have been strengthened by the arrival of two dedicated brand managers. Peter Coleman and Stuart Attfield join the two respective teams and in doing so supplement a strengthened salesforce and pricing department. Both report to consumer marketing manager Wim Belckx and sales and marketing director Farrell Dolan.
Following the rollout of similar facilities in South Korea, the US, Australia and the UK, Kumho Tire opened its first ‘Kumho Flagship Store’ in Italy on 20 March. As in the other markets, the Italian flagship centre scheme aims to reward and help dealers who focus on the Kumho brand. The first facility, at the Pneus2000 centre in Offanengo, Cremona province, was selected from within the tyre maker’s Kumho Platinum Club network in Italy and will be followed in the near future by other centres in main cities throughout the country.
Bridgestone has boosted its North region senior management team with the addition of a new business development role. Guy Jones, formerly of Land Rover and Kia, brings a wealth of automotive experience to the new Bridgestone management team, which has been revamped considerably in the last few months.
At the start of November 2013, Goodyear Dunlop appointed Nick Harley as director Consumer Tyres for Goodyear Dunlop UK and Ireland. At the end of July 2014, Tyres & Accessories caught up with him to hear – nine months in – his reflections on the current state of the tyre market and what he can foresee in the future.
Kumho Tyre (UK) Ltd (KTUK) has established a new direct sales organisation following on from the recent announcement of a new three-year contract with Micheldever Tyre Services.
The new facility is located at Magna Park near Lutterworth in Leicestershire and provides an office base for the company’s expanded sales and marketing division as well as a warehouse stocked with the company’s full range of car, 4×4, van, truck and motorsport tyres. Sited close to the M1, M6 and M69 motorways, the Magna Park centre is perfectly placed to act as a national distribution hub.
Taiwanese tyre manufacturer Federal Tyres has joined the Imported Tyre Manufacturers Association (ITMA), and in doing so receives access to regular updates on technical and legislative matters affecting the sale of tyres within the EU, helping it to ensure its products remain fully compliant for sale.
Alfred Wolff has been appointed a managing director of the point S operation in Germany. Effective immediately, the former head of purchasing is responsible for purchasing, sales and marketing and serves as managing director alongside Rolf Körbler, who had been sole managing director at point S Deutschland GmbH since December 2011. Körbler is responsible for controlling, IT, finance and investments.
Gert Wendroth has been appointed president of Nynas AB, effective 1 March 2014. He will replace Staffan Lennström who is retiring. Gert Wendroth has a thorough background in the oil industry. His latest position was as CEO of H&R AG, a German listed company operating two base oil refineries in Germany and a number of blending and filling plants for specialty products around the world. Before that he has held various management positions in the Royal Dutch / Shell Group with a strong focus on B2B sales and marketing.
Schrader International has appointed Aaron Nelson as its new regional sales manager in Western Canada. Nelson brings nearly a decade of experience working with automotive and diesel performance products. Based in Edmonton, Nelson’s responsibilities include assisting Schrader customers with their TPMS programs and driving sales growth throughout Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Starting 1 January 2014, Thorsten A. Bublitz is supervising the international expansion of all agricultural activities within Continental’s Commercial Specialty Tires business unit in his new role as business line manager agro. In this position he reports to business unit managing director Dr. Michael Maertens.
Giti Tire has appointed Daria Sala Della Cuna as country manager for the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese markets. She will replace Corrado Moglia who has accepted a new international role within Giti Tire to be announced soon, in the position. Moglia joined Giti Tire in 2006 as sales director for Southern Europe, before becoming marketing […]
So while production capacity and scale can be impressive, what most Chinese-based tyre manufacturers have failed to do is establish themselves as makers of quality products that command quality prices around the world. With this in mind, the fact that Triangle appointed a new global marketing vice-president (a European ex-Goodyear man Jenner Powell) in the middle of 2013 suggests that the company is taking steps to elevate perceptions of its products and consistently communicate its strengths to the market.
Kumho Tire U.S.A. has announced several recent additions to its sales force. John F. Hagan has been appointed the company’s new national sales vice-president, while Kirk Papazian joined the company in September as vice-president of sales for the Western Division and Stephen Clave became Kumho Tire U.S.A.’s vice-president of sales for the Eastern Division as of 1 November 2013.
