New Goodyear Senior VP & Chief Technical Officer Named

At the end of 2007 Goodyear named its replacement for Joseph M. Gringo, who has retired from Goodyear after 41 years of service. As of January 1 Jean-Claude Kihn, formerly general director of Goodyear’s Technical Center (GTC*A) in Akron, Ohio, has taken on the role of senior vice president and chief technical officer.

“Jean-Claude has demonstrated excellent leadership throughout the time I have known him and worked with him,” said Goodyear chairman and chief executive officer Robert J. Keegan upon announcing the appointment. “He has gained the trust of our business leaders in Europe, Latin America and North America through his recent assignments in those businesses.

“I have a tremendous amount of confidence in Jean-Claude, and the entire organisation, to continue the positive trajectory that we have driven over the course of the past several years,” Keegan added. “Our new product engine is now the best in the industry.”

Kihn joined Goodyear in 1988 at the Goodyear Technical Center in Luxembourg as a compounder, working with passenger car tyres. In subsequent years, he held several positions with Goodyear’s Asian and Latin American business units before being promoted to general director of GTC*A in 2005. Kihn is a chemical engineer and has a Ph.D. from the University of Louvain in Belgium. He is fluent in English, French, German, Spanish and Luxembourgish.

“I am extremely honoured to be thought of as someone who can fill Joe’s shoes. However, I am also very confident of our future capabilities – thanks in large part to the tremendous leadership team that has been developed throughout the organisation,” said Kihn.

Along with the appointment of Kihn, Goodyear announced other leadership changes in the technical and research areas of the company:

William M. Hopkins, currently the vice president of technology and strategic initiatives, has been named vice president of advanced concepts. In his new role, he will establish and lead a team responsible for “break-through” concepts that will drive the development of innovative product and process technologies.

Joseph Zekoski, currently the general director of the Goodyear Technical Center in Luxembourg (GTC*L), has been named to the newly created position of vice president of global product development and technical centre operations. He will be responsible for product development designed to assure the timely and cost-effective delivery of new products.

Surendra Chawla, currently the director of corporate tyre research, has been named to the position of senior director of external science and technology programs. Chawla will be responsible for discovering and assessing new technologies applicable to Goodyear’s product and business needs.

Marc Junio, currently director of technology, consumer tyres in Goodyear’s European Union and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa tyre business segments, has been named general director of GTC*A, replacing Kihn.