At just 34, Lionetto, who was born in Napoli, Italy, has only been in the employ of Pirelli SpA for seven years. In that time, he came up through the ranks in Milan before being transferred to South Africa in 2003 as marketing manager.
In 2005, he was announced as the replacement for the then-outgoing MD of the South African operation, Ashley Cooper, making Lionetto the youngest MD in the SA Tyre industry. Since his arrival in SA, Lionetto has ensured that the company is better positioned in the SA tyre industry than ever before, and that fact has now led him to be transferred to head up Pirelli Asia.
As MD of Pirelli Asia, Lionetto will be responsible for all 14 countries in Asia, except China and Japan.
Lionetto’s replacement is no less impressive. Alessandro Marchi has worked at Pirelli SpA for six years, and in that time, the 35-year old Milanese grew quickly to take the highly responsible position of European fleet manager.
His promotion to MD of Pirelli Tyre SA will see Marchi face new challenges in an environment but also in an economy, which continues to surprise many and in an industry, which has recently seen its biggest growth in history.
