Cooper makes pair of international operation executive changes

FINDLAY, Ohio — Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has made two leadership appointments covering its international operations, promoting Luis Ceneviz to senior vice president and president, International, and re-hiring Alan Yang as vice president and general manager-Asia.

Mr. Ceneviz, senior vice president and managing director-Europe and Latin America, will assume his new position Oct. 1, while Mr. Yang's appointment to succeed the retiring Allen Tsaur is immediate.

In his new role, Mr. Ceneviz will oversee operations in Europe, Latin American and Asia. He joined Cooper in 2015 as managing director of the firm's Latin America Tire Operations and added responsibility for Cooper's Europe tire operations a year later.

Prior to joining Cooper he spent eight years with Apollo Tyres Ltd., including being president of Apollo's Europe, Sub-Sahara Africa and Americas region in 2013-14, and 28 years at Goodyear

He holds several educational degrees including production-mechanical engineer and safety engineer degrees from the Universidade Metodista de Piracicaba in Brazil.

Cooper's international business — comprising the Asian and European operations — represents nearly 22 percent of the firm's overall sales after growing 33.4 percent in 2017 to $619 million. The Latin American business is part of Cooper's Americas business unit.

Mr. Yang rejoins Cooper after several years with China National Rubber Co. (a unit of ChemChina), where he was chief operating officer the past few years during the integration of the Pirelli Tyre and Prometeon businesses with ChemChina's

He also was CEO of China National Chemical Environment Co. (a unit of ChemChina).

Mr. Yang was Cooper Tire's national sales director (China) in 2006 and then vice president and general manager of the firm's China operations, focused primarily on sales and marketing in 2014, prior to his joining ChemChina.

He's tasked with contining to expand Cooper's business in Asia.

"We are pleased to have such a talented and experienced executive in Alan Yang to move into Allen's role," Cooper President and CEO Brad Hughes said. "We know firsthand what a great leader Alan is from earlier positions he held at Cooper, and look forward to the contributions we know he will make as we continue to grow our business in Asia.

"This transition will no doubt benefit from Luis in his new role," Mr. Hughes said. "In his three years with Cooper, Luis has demonstrated that he is an effective leader who generates results while remaining focused on employee engagement to drive business performance. "

At the same time, Mr. Hughes called Mr. Tsaur's accomplishments "remarkable.

"He has been a trusted and effective leader who will stay on through the transition, and then beyond his retirement as a part-time special adviser to me," Mr. Hughes added.

Mr. Tsaur has been with Cooper for 11 years, most recently as senior vice president and general manager-Asia. Cooper credits him with leading the growth of the Asia business, including growing the original equipment business.