MIAMI — Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. Ltd. has consolidated sales and marketing responsibility for the five brands it markets in the U.S. and Canada under Sentury Tire USA, its Miami-based sales subsidiary.
The move brings responsibility for the Groundspeed brand — launched in 2016 as part of the establishment of the firm's North American manufacturing entity, Sentury Tire North America in LaGrange, Ga.
"The primary reason for this change is to improve on the customer experience for our distributors and dealers," Maxwell Wee, executive vice president for Sentury Tire USA, said. "Going forward, Sentury Tire USA's sales and customer care teams can better assist our GroundSpeed partners."
Sentury Tire USA now has responsibility for Qingdao Sentury's Delinte, Groundspeed, Landsail, Pantera and Sentury tire brands in the U.S. and Canada.
The consolidation resulted in an undisclosed number of job losses for Sentury Tire North America staff.
"The consolidation of the GroundSpeed brand allows us to further strengthen Sentury Tire's multi-brand strategy," Mr. Wee said, noting that Sentury Tire USA's growth has come from the brand portfolio and the distributor's quality, competitive pricing and "outstanding" fill rates.
"We can respond to the dealer/distributor's tire needs with minimal geographical brand overlap," Mr. Wee said.
The GroundSpeed brand comprises passenger, high-performance, light truck and SUV/CUV tires.