New Chief, New Offices, New Sponsorship, Renewed Attitude at Pirelli
When he took over as chairman and CEO of Pirelli Tire North America, Mauro Pessi was certainly no stranger to the tiremaker or its parent, Pirelli Tyre. After a year as CEO of Italian brake component maker Brembo, Pessi, 43, returned to his roots when he became head of Pirelli’s North American operations. Pessi had
Strong People, Focused Strategy Has Cooper Moving, Says Armes
One could certainly see Roy Armes as the typical organizational man, given his long 31-year background with Whirlpool, where he held a number of domestic and overseas executive posts. But no doubt he is an operations man, and his turn as chairman, president and CEO of Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. bears this out. Armes
New VP Sees Numerous Opportunities for Conti to Score
Just over a year ago, Bill Caldwell was named vice president of sales and marketing for Continental Tire the Americas passenger and light truck tire unit. He was moving over from the tiremaker’s OE side of the business to replace Andreas Gerstenberger, who during his six-year tenure helped bring Conti’s U.S. consumer tire unit back
With GPX Purchase Done, Alliance Chief Touting Company’s New Strengths
Yogesh Mahansaria, group CEO of Alliance Tire Group, based in Thane, India, is rare among his tiremaker CEO brethren. This is Mahansaria’s second go-round as head of a major tiremaker, having once been CEO of India’s Balkrishna Tyre. At Balkrishna, where he was a partner with his father, Mahansaria helped turn the tiny bicycle and
5 Questions With – Marc Bujold
During Nokian Tyres’ recent introduction of the Hakkapeliitta 7, Tire Review sat down with Marc Bujold, business development manager for the tiremaker’s North American operations. How do you plan to market the Nokian brand to North American consumers? We already have a devout fan base that we need to start tapping into more. While we
Yokohama’s King on Tire Labeling, New Tire and Modern Tire Buyers
Dan King, 47, has spent his entire life in the tire industry, first with his family’s Bymar Tire & Brake in Mission Viejo, Calif., where he started working at age 12, and today as vice president of sales and marketing for Yokohama Tire Corp. Like many children of tire dealers, King benefited with a good
After Strong 2009, Hankook Looks to Take it to Another Level
During Hankook Tire America’s recent dealer meeting in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Tire Review had the opportunity to sit down and discuss a wide range of issues with its new president Soo Il Lee, Bill Bainbridge, director of brand communications, and Todd Hershberger, senior vice president of sales and marketing. How have you handled all
Goodyear Execs Discuss Follow-up Strategy After Successful 2009
At the 2010 Goodyear Dealer Conference in Orlando, Fla., Tire Review had the opportunity to sit down with key company executives to see what Goodyear is planning moving forward. Participating in the interview were the following North American Tire leaders: Rich Kramer, COO and president; Steve McClellan, president of consumer tires; Scott Rodgers, CMO; and
Five Questions With – Anthony Lee
Anthony Lee is the lead light truck development engineer for Nitto Tire USA, and was responsible for Nitto’s new Trail Grappler M/T line. Take us through what is different about the Trail Grappler M/T compared to competitive products. “We’ve focused mainly on concerns from customers. We did a lot of market research prior to develop
Looking Long Term: Kanwar Has Apollo Tyre Focused…and on the Move
When Onkar Kanwar took over Apollo Tyres Ltd. In 1980, the company was a huge mess. Bad tires and worse management had driven the company – founded by his father in 1976 – into bankruptcy, its net worth wiped out five times over. But nearly 30 years later, the 66-year-old chairman sits atop India’s largest
GM Cuts By the Numbers
Now that GM is being reworked, here are some of the under-stated highlights: