PERSONNEL
A new addition to the Continental Tyre Group, Ian Forster, has taken over responsibility for the company’s Eastern region. In his new position, Forster will be in charge of an area that includes North London and East Anglia; his overall responsibilities include driving sales of Continental’s commercial tyre products for truck, bus and coach as well as being a principal point of contact between Conti360° network partners and regional fleet customers.
Just days after signing a significant distribution deal in China Transense has announced a similar arrangement in another emerging market. Transense’ trading division, IntelliSAW, has reportedly entered into an exclusive distribution agreement with Adperc of Brazil. Adperc has forecast sales of the IntelliSAW monitoring system in Brazil of at least $2.8 million over the next three years and will have to achieve this to maintain exclusivity in the territory. Adperc will provide distribution, system integration and marketing services for IntelliSAW's innovative wireless/passive temperature monitoring system throughout Brazil in electric power transmission and distribution systems. Like China before it, Brazil has been identified by Transense directors as a key geographical region for IntelliSAW.
Cooper Tire & Rubber has appointed Cynthia A. Niekamp to the company’s Board of Directors. Niekamp is senior vice-president of PPG Industries’ automotive OEM coatings business, a position she has held since 2010. She joined PPG in 2009 as vice-president of the automotive OEM coatings business.
Less than a year after Carolina Dybeck Happe’s appointment as chief financial officer (CFO) of the Trelleborg Group, the Swedish company has announced Dybeck Happe will step down from her position in the first quarter of next year and return to former employer, Assa Abloy, where she will take on the position of group CFO as of 1 March 2012.
Bosch Automotive Aftermarket has appointed Alex Gibson and Paul Rendell as technical service advisors in the UK. The appointments were made following the transfer of existing advisors, Steve Meloy and Kevin Lyon, to the Data Engineering team and Original Equipment division, respectively. Gibson and Rendell join the hotline team responsible for providing technical assistance to Bosch customers to support servicing, diagnostic trouble-shooting, and replacement and repair of automotive products.
On 1 January 2012, Yuji Goto will take over from Hikomitsu Noji as president of Yokohama Rubber’s Tire Group, the Japanese company reports. Goto is already general manager of Yokohama’s Tire Global Business Planning Division, a role he will continue in next year. Hikomitsu Noji will retain his position as president and representative director of Yokohama Rubber.
RH Claydon Ltd has promoted Colin Clements and John Parker, two long standing members of its management team to the position of director.
The Korea Times reported on 6 December that Kumho Asiana chairman Park Sam-koo is planning to relieve a number of company executives from the burden of going to work. The Seoul-based publication quoted an unnamed Kumho source as saying the company is undertaking executive job cuts as part of a restructuring drive that will primarily focus on Kumho Tire and Kumho Industrial.
After 42 successful years in the tyre industry, Alan Jackson, managing director of Grouptyre member We Sell Tyres (Wholesale), has announced his retirement. Jackson’s successor will be Andy Zelos, who will take over as wholesale director from 1 January, 2012. Zelos has also joined the board of directors at Grouptyre. Jackson and Zelos have worked together for over twenty years, both at WS Tyremasters and subsequently at We Sell Tyres (Wholesale).
The put option Goodyear had for its Amiens plant in France, which was to be sold to Titan Tire Corporation following completion of a social plan for the closing of the site’s passenger car tyre business, expired on 30 November. It now appears that Titan will drop its tentative acquisition of the European component of Goodyear’s agricultural tyre business, shredding plans first drawn up in 2009, and pursue acquisition opportunities elsewhere.
Every year the American Association of Retired Persons – AARP for short – lists its top fifty employers for workers over fifty. In 2011 Michelin North America once again made the top fifty – the fifth time it has been recognised in this way by the AARP.
As of the middle of next year, GKN plc will have a new chairman. The company announced the appointment of Michael J. Turner, CBE to replace Roy Brown, who intends to retire at the close of the GKN annual general meeting on 3 May 2012.
Following a drop in demand for Nokian heavy tyres and the expectation that lower demand will continue into 2012, the Finnish manufacturer has opted to reduce its production output of these products. On 25 November Nokian shared details of a preliminary plan to change the working pattern of its heavy tyre production to a discontinued five-day, three-shift model and to reduce the work input of approximately 100 factory and 15 white-collar employees through lay-offs. The company says that personnel cuts are also a possibility.
Bosch Aftermarket, the division of the German company responsible for supplying diagnostic garage equipment, training and the Bosch Car Service network, has appointed Dominic Moran its new country sales manager for the UK and Ireland. Moran, who begins in the position on 1 January 2012, moves to the UK from his current Aftermarket role as regional sales manager for the Bosch Group in Australia; he brings with him, notes Bosch, significant experience from previous sales roles within the consumer hardware and automotive sectors.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has appointed Daniel L. Smytka as president of the company’s Asia Pacific business. He replaces Pierre Cohade who has decided to leave Goodyear and move to a new opportunity that will be announced at a later date. Cohade will remain with the company through the end of the year to assist with the transition.
Smytka, who has more than 25 years of leadership experience, takes the role after successfully running Goodyear's Asia consumer business and subsequently leading the relocation and expansion of the company’s factory in China.
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