The new company, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company de Mexico, is responsible for the marketing, sales and distribution of Cooper and Pneustone brands. Currently, the Pneustone brand is the house brand of Llanti Systems, a division of Grupo Dexel, a Mexico company with entities involved in transportation, energy distribution, auto parts, specialty equipment and tire production.
A management team has been put into place under the leadership of Jim Smith, the newly appointed general director. Smith was formerly Cooper’s plant controller at the Texarkana, Ark., tire manufacturing plant. Assisting Smith in the position of director of marketing will be Chris Barbara, formerly Cooper’s manager of sales training. These two individuals, along with Hugo Ybarra, director of sales, will lead the core team, primarily responsible for all activities associated with the new trading company.
Other recent finance team moves include: Kerry Barnett, director of financial planning and commercial analysis, will become controller for the Texarkana plant; Craig Durliat, manager of operations accounting, will succeed Barnett as director of financial planning and commercial analysis; Tim Albertson will join Cooper as director, global costs, succeeding Durliat; Chuck Scarlett will join Cooper as director of supply chain accounting, helping to plan and develop the company’s global tire sourcing within the global supply chain group; and Dan Wurth will join Cooper as lead commercial analyst. (Tire Review/Akron)
