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January 17, 2019 01:00 AM

YEAR IN REVIEW: A look at the top executive changes of 2018

Tire Business Staff
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    Here are some of the executive changes that occurred in the tire and automotive service industries during the past year:

     

    Alliance Tire Americas Inc.

    Dhaval Nanavati to president, succeeding James Clark, who left the firm; was vice president of aftermarket sales and president of South American sales.

    Seth Walters to vice president of aftermarket sales, East.

    Allen Lyons to vice president of aftermarket sales, West and Canada; was director of sales and marketing, fuel systems, for Cummins Inc.

     

    Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations

    Amber Holm to vice president, marketing, consumer and customer engagement, U.S. and Canada; was vice president, consumer brand marketing, U.S. and Canada.

    Dave Nientimp to vice president of marketing and merchandising for Bridgestone Retail Operations, succeeding Jeffrey Lack, who was promoted to vice president, marketing, consumer tire, U.S. and Canada.

    Eric Higgs to president of truck, bus and retread tires, U.S. and Canada, succeeding Joseph Saoud who was named president of BATO Latin America; was vice president of marketing, commercial group.

    Steve Sutherland to vice president of marketing, commercial group, succeeding Eric Higgs; was executive director, sales, distribution and global accounts, Firestone Ag.

     

    BKT USA Inc.

    Doug Kershaw to vice president; was associate vice president.

     

    Carlisle Companies L.L.C.

    Mike Arnold to vice president/general manager of Accella Performance Materials' tire fill systems division; was head of global sales for Accella Tire Fill Systems.

     

    Carlstar Group L.L.C.

    Jacob Thomas to CEO, succeeding John Salvatore, who retired; was group president of Clarcor Air Filtration Products' engine mobile filtration business.

     

    Continental Tire the Americas

    Pavel Prouza to head of sales and marketing for the commercial specialty tires unit, succeeding Federico Jimenez, who was named a key account manager for the unit's Europe, Middle East and Africa region; was head of controlling for commercial specialty tires.

     

    Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.

    Phil Kortokrax to senior vice president, global operations; was senior vice president and president of North America Tire Operations.

    Christopher Ball to senior vice president and president of North America Tire Operations, succeeding Mr. Kortokrax; was global vice president for Whirpool Corp.'s KitchenAid business.

    Todd Pickens to vice president, sales, Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels; formerly with Goodyear's consumer replacement sales organization.

     

    Giti Tire Group

    Tim Fulton to COO of Giti Tire (USA) Ltd.; was vice president of BFGoodrich global operations at Group Michelin.

    Jim Mayfield to senior executive vice president of sales and marketing; was executive vice president of sales and marketing at Kumho Tire USA Inc.

    Lou Monico to vice president of sales and marketing for Canada; was national sales manager, Canada.

     

    Global Rubber Industries Pvt. Ltd.

    Gary Stevens to president of sales, materials-handling tires, in the U.S.

    Mahesha Ranasoma to CEO; was managing director of Dipped Products P.L.C.

    Harris Premaratne to chairman.

     

    Goodyear

    Darren Wells to CFO, succeeding Laura Thompson, who retired; was executive in residence and MBA coach at University of South Florida's Muma College of Business.

    Hankook Tire Co. Inc.

    Soo Il Lee to president and CEO; was executive vice president and COO of its China operations.

     

    Kumho Tire USA Inc.

    Samuel Choi to CEO, succeeding Hai Eok Choi; was head of Kumho Mexico.

    Shawn Denlein to executive vice president of sales and marketing; was senior vice president of tire merchandising for Monro Inc.

     

    Les Schwab Tire Centers

    Jack Cuniff to CEO, succeeding Dick Borgman, who retired; was CFO.

     

    Monro Inc.

    Deborah Brundage to senior vice president of marketing and merchandising; was with Procter & Gamble Co.

    Evan Naylor to COO; was vice president of sales and operations at Murphy USA Inc.

    Jerry Alessia to senior vice president of tire merchandising, succeeding Shawn Denlein, who left for Kumho Tire USA; was general manager of multi-category retailers and business development at Goodyear.

     

    Myers Industries Inc.

    Kevin Brackman to CFO and executive vice president, succeeding Matteo Anversa who left the company; was chief accounting officer.

     

    Pirelli & C. S.p.A.

    Ning Gaoning to chairman, in addition to chairman of China National Chemical Corp., succeeding Ren Jianxin, who retired.

    Marco Crola to CEO of the NAFTA region, succeeding Pierluigi Dinelli who left the company; was senior vice president of global OE and prestige business.

     

    Prinx Chengshan Tire Co. Ltd.

    John Aben to president, Prinx Chengshan North America Inc.; formerly with Giti Tire (USA) Ltd. and Nexen Tire America Inc.

     

    Prometeon Tyre Group

    Murilo Fonseca to CEO of the Americas region; was COO.

     

    Smithers Rapra

    Brad Wurst to tire engineering consultant; formerly with Bridgestone Americas and Cooper Tire & Rubber Co.

     

    Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd.

    Iori Suzuki to CEO of Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc. in addition to president; succeeding Jim Hawk, who continues as chairman.

    Tomoshige Mizutani to president and CEO of Toyo Tire North America OE Sales L.L.C., in addition to chairman of Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. and chairman and CEO of Nitto Tire U.S.A. Inc.

    Donald Bunn to CEO of Toyo Tire North America Manufacturing Inc., in addition to president.

     

    Triangle Tire Co. Ltd.

    Ding Mu to chairman, succeeding his father Ding Yuhua, who died June 13.

     

    Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd.

    Jeff Barna to president of Yokohama Tire Corp. (YTC), was COO.

    Hideto Katsuragawa to chairman of YTC, in addition to president and CEO of Yokohama Corp. of North America.

    Shinichi Takimoto to CEO of YTC, Yokohama Tire (Canada) Inc. and Yokohama Tire Mexico S de R.L. de C.V.

    Humberto Gomez to president of Yokohama Tire Mexico, succeeding Gary Nash, who retired; was director general.

     

    Zafco International

    Chris Tolbert to vice president of sales, East Zone, North America; was director of business development, automotive, for American Kenda Rubber.

     

    Zhongce Rubber Group Co.

    Craige McFerrin to vice president of sales for the Arisun brand at ZC Rubber Americas Inc.; was East U.S. sales manager with ZC Americas.

    Letter
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    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Tire Business would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor Don Detore at [email protected].

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