The bigger the tyre brand, the more important marketing becomes in order to communicate its values and its worth. With this in mind, the “marketing” tag collates all the latest marketing-related news and analysis into a single place. This reverse-chronological list of thousands of articles is your go-to source of tyre industry, marketing-related news and information.
After four years as president of Kumho Tire North America, J.B. Kim is to return to Korea and head up the company’s original equipment sales division and Korean market replacement sales division. The position left vacant by Kim in the US will be filled by Hai Eok "Harry" Choi.
During December GiTi Tire (UK) Ltd. launched its commercial vehicle roadside service assistance programme throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland. The so-called soft launch of the programme began on 1 December with pre-launch information released during November. Afterwards the company’s four key regional salespeople visited 98 per cent of the company’s dealer partners in the month that followed. The soft launch is now being backed up with complete nationwide implementation and a “big push” across the UK and Ireland. Tyres & Accessories met with GiTi Tire (UK) sales and marketing director Truck and Bus, Tony McHugh and marketing director Europe – Commercial Tires, Peter Foulkes to find out more.
Italy’s Marangoni has given its Marangoni Tread North America subsidiary the company’s ‘President’s Award’ for 2012; the North American operation gained this distinction due to its strong sales performance plus manufacturing and marketing development.
Kumho Tire U.S.A. reports that the Ecsta 4X has received a 2012 Good Design Award. The award, organised annually by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design in cooperation with the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies, recognises design and innovation, sustainability, creativity, branding, ecological responsibility and technology in a number of areas. Kumho Tire was awarded this honour in the category of transportation, alongside companies such as BMW, Boeing and Hyundai.
Infinity’s ‘Win a Bentley’ prize draw, which has been running between September and November, reached its finale last week. Working alongside its UK distributor, Bond International, Infinity Tyres held the final prize draw at Bond’s head office near York, where members of the Infinity Europe team including Jorge Crespo (Infinity’s European General Manager) and Clive Mansfield (Sales and Marketing Manager) joined with Steve Tidmarsh, Finance Director of Bond International and Paul Palmer of Savoy Tyres to host the day’s events.
In the motorcycle segment, Italian firm Pirelli offers something its competitors don’t; not one, but two unique brands – and one of these is Metzeler, the industry’s only two-wheel tyre specialist. Jim Worland, who is the product and marketing manager for Pirelli Tyres Ltd’s Moto business unit, recently spoke to Tyres & Accessories about the latest products and developments from both brands.
Those active in the US agricultural sector will benefit from a little TLC from Trelleborg. TLC – short for Trelleborg Load Calculator – is a new app for tablets, smartphones and computers. Trelleborg says the app, which is specifically adapted to meet the needs of the US market, has been developed to precisely calculate a tractor’s load per axle in order to determine the optimal tyre pressure for specific operating conditions.
An agreement signed between Pirelli and Russian oil and gas company Rosneft will see the Italian tyre maker’s products sold at the 1,800 service stations Rosneft operates in its homeland. The trade and marketing cooperative agreement was signed by Pirelli & C. S.p.A chairman and CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera and Rosneft Management Board president and chairman Igor Sechin; in a statement covering the deal, Pirelli says the heads of both companies underlined that the cooperation and business partnership between Rosneft and Pirelli is “built on the basis of sharing experience and potential for mutual benefit.”
Independent tyre and wheel fitment data provider DriveRight has added a new product to its range. The ‘Tyre Fitment Finder’ is designed to help tyre distributors and manufacturers ensure their advertising and marketing is targeted at the right customers.
After 38 years with the company, the executive director of Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations’ motorsports activities will retire next year. At present no successor has been named.
The statutory negotiations Nokian Tyres commenced in early November wound up on 17 December and the tyre maker has announced the cuts it will implement at its plant in Nokia, Finland. Antti-Jussi Tähtinen, vice-president of marketing and communications for Nokian, reports the planned improvements in productivity and production adjustments will be mainly achieved via temporary lay-offs. In addition, 28 production workers and officials will be laid off permanently.
Recently Goodyear launched its FleetOnlineSolutions Mobile Technical Evaluation (FOS Mte) for OTR tyre into the Europe, Middle East and Africa region business area. The internet-based tyre management programme allows fleet inspection reports to be filed online at the time of each visit, quickly giving the customer information on the performance of each tyre in the fleet. It also provides relevant information in actual cost terms for greater transparency.
Nexen Tyre Europe GmbH has appointed Joo Ho Song as its new president. Song has reportedly already started carrying out “a comprehensive package of measures, focusing on Nexen’s ambitious goals in Europe and implementing relevant strategies quickly.” The measures include increasing personnel at the European headquarters in Eschborn.
Hankook Tire is tweaking its global management team. Soo Il Lee, who is currently president of Hankook Tire America, will as of 1 January take on the position of president and COO of Hankook’s China regional headquarters. The person he’s replacing, Byeong Jin Lee, has been appointed Soo Il Lee’s successor in the US-based position.
Kian Hon Tyres Sdn. Bhd., the sole Malaysian distributor of the Maxxis tyre brand, is placing a greater focus on retreading the Taiwanese tyre maker’s products with the opening of an expanded retreading facility. The company says it has received the “full support and involvement” of Maxxis to construct a tread rubber production line and expand its retreading plant in Penang. Total capacity at the plant, which first entered operation in 1980, will increase to 120,000 retreads a year and 15,000 tread liners per month. The plant will be the primary retreading and tread liner production site for the Maxxis brand within the region.
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