Michelin UK truck tyre team take responsibility for ‘North Europe’

The heads of Michelin’s commercial and marketing teams in the UK and Ireland have taken on responsibility for Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The creation of a larger ‘North Europe’ team brings wider expertise and greater resources to staff across all seven countries, meaning customers will benefit from an even higher level of service.

The changes see Guy Heywood, [49], appointed Truck & Bus Commercial Director – North Europe and Chris Smith, [33], appointed Truck & Bus Marketing Director – North Europe. Heywood will also continue as Commercial Director of Michelin Tyre plc, which sees him represent Michelin commercially in the UK and Ireland, co-ordinating across all product lines.

Commenting on the new role, Heywood explains: “Bringing our teams together makes a lot of business sense. It streamlines processes, gives us greater critical mass and ensures we have access to wider industry knowledge, which in turn directly strengthens our offer to customers.”

Smith adds: “There’s a lot of synergies between these countries; particularly our focus on ensuring we offer the same level of service to all fleets, regardless of whether they run one truck or 1,000. We’re currently looking at how we can share some of our latest innovations from the UK, including the Michelin OnCall geolocation app we’ve just launched.”

The Nordic markets see truck and bus tyre sales grow significantly between July and November each year, as fleets invest in new tyres to ensure the highest levels of grip and operational safety throughout winter.

Michelin predicts demand for approximately 1.3 million truck and bus tyres across the Nordics in 2017. This market traditionally favours super single 385/65 R 22.5, 315/80 R 22.5 and 385/55 R 22.5 tyres, plus 265/70 R 19.5 tyres on trailers.