HANGZHOU, China — Zhongce Rubber Group (ZC Rubber) has made two personnel appointments: John Ruddy has been named the European OTR tire sales director, and Mark Turner has been named European agriculture tire sales director.
Both have been involved in the tire history for decades.
Ruddy joined ZC Rubber as European OTR sales manager in 2019. He said the tire maker has established "a great network across every corner of Europe market. The one stop supply of premium quality off the road tires brings great benefits to our Europe partners."
Turner has spent 25 years in the agriculture tire business. He served as vice chairman of the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organization (ETRTO) agricultural sub-committee; coordinator of the experimental standards group within the ETRTO agricultural sub-committee; and the farm and industrial tire representative at the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA).
While with the committees, he contributed to the process to restructuring of the Europool categories in 2011 and 2012 as well as framing new standards in the ETRTO categories.
Early last year, ZC Rubber acquired Tianjin United Tire & Rubber International Co (TUTRIC) as part of its global expansion strategy. Based in port city of Tianjin, in northeastern China, TUTRIC manufactured the Tianli tire brand and it was integrated as Zhongce Rubber (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., upon completion of the acquisition.
Turner called the Tianli "an important player in Europe agriculture tire market. Zhongce Rubber Group acquiring Tianli tires in early 2022 was very smart decision and will reinforce Tianli's unique brand awareness in the off highway segment."
Ge Guorong, senior vice President of ZC Rubber, said the company has relocated its OTR factory to Tianjin after acquiring Tianli.
"We are now one of the very few tire companies that can offer more than 2,000 SKUs of off-highway products from one central factory, and we have promised to invest much more in the following years, aiming to be among the global top three players in the off-highway tire business in future," he said.
Guorong said that the company had a record year in OTR sales in 2022, "and our capacity is still not enough for the strong demand from partners across the world, especially from our international partners. Our commitment to all of our customers is to provide both local service and global supply through our local team working with local partners."
