Falken Tire changes name, realigning corp. structure

In addition, SRI's Goodyear Dunlop Tire North America Ltd. (GDTNA) unit will change its name to Sumitomo Rubber USA L.L.C. (SRUSA) by the end of March.

At the same time, responsibility for sales of Dunlop-brand light vehicle tires to Japanese OEMs and sales of Dunlop motorcycle tires will transfer from SRUSA to SRNA, the company said.

“We now have local manufacturing, test facilities and enhanced technical capabilities, all of which will help us better meet our customers' needs.”

Under its updated corporate structure, SRNA will operate three separate sales divisions:

• Dunlop Motorcycle Tire, in Tonawanda, N.Y., will be responsible for Dunlop motorcycle sales to OE and replacement markets;
• Falken Tire, located in Rancho Cucamonga, will be responsible for replacement sales of Falken-, Ohtsu- and private-branded products for light vehicle and commercial markets; and
• SRNA OE sales, based in Detroit, will be responsible for Dunlop-brand light vehicle tires for Japanese OEMs and Falken-brand OE sales for all North America OE customers.

SRNA will provide centralized administrative and logistics support to all three divisions, the company added. SRNA also will take over sales and distribution responsibility for the Caribbean and Mexico — a transition expected to take place during the first quarter of 2016.

Under the new structure, Richard Smallwood, CEO and president of Falken Tire, will remain as president and CEO of SRNA.

“The dissolution of the alliance between SRI and Goodyear will provide us the opportunity to quickly and dramatically enhance our service levels to our customers in North America,” said GDTNA Chairman and CEO Kenji Onga.