January 12, 2007 06:00 AM
Kumho unveils goals at annual meeting
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Lisa Hockensmith
Kumho associates and dealers participate in the annual Beach Olympics toward the end of the dealer meeting. Here participants race each other around the Kumho banner with tire inner tubes stacked on themselves.
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Lisa Hockensmith
Kumhos redesigned logo, also unveiled at the SEMA Show, dotted the landscape at the site of the annual meeting, the Gran Melia resort in Cancun.
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Lisa Hockensmith
Kumho displayed several new products recently introduced at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in November.
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Lisa Hockensmith
Dealers interviewed by Tire Business, including David Martin, (right) vice president of Martin Tire Co. in El Paso, Texas, and Arnold Thomas, vice president of Foree Tire Distributors in Denver, said they think Kumho has a shot at reaching its goals among global tire makers. But low fill rates at the end of 2006 were a concern for Mr. Thomas. Its hard to sell the product when you cant get it, he said, though he added hes optimistic the problem will improve.
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Lisa Hockensmith
Mike Leverington, director of marketing, discusses marketing support plans for dealers, including a new online dealer training program dubbed Edge. Planned for the second quarter, the training program is aimed at educating counter associates on topics such as tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) and Kumho tires. Dealers will receive incentives when employees complete various levels. Kumho officials said the training program will fill an information void for dealers as well as communicate the companys message to retailers.
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Lisa Hockensmith
Rick Brennan, Kumhos brand manager, said getting to No. 5 isnt just a matter of filling the void between Kumhos current sales and those of the five other tire makers standing in its way. Everybody else is going to try to grow, he told dealers. We have to go past four companies to get there, and those four companies are not going to let us go by because we want to. So we need your help
. Partnering with you guys is the only way to get there.
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Lisa Hockensmith
Dave Hudrlik, senior vice president of sales for Kumho Tire U.S.A., said this year the firm expects to move into ninth place among the largest tire makers globally. In the U.S., Kumho posted sales of $465 million in 2006a 15-percent improvementand is on track to record $610 million in sales this year, he said.
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Lisa Hockensmith
B.K. Kim, Kumho Tire U.S.A. Inc. president and CEO, outlines the firms goals to dealersand expresses dealers important role in achieving those goalsduring Kumhos annual meeting in Cancun, Mexico. 2007 and beyond will bring many new challenges and thats not only for the tire industry but also Kumho Tire Co., he said. Kumhos primary objective is to earn the position of the No. 5 rubber and tire company by 2015 and the No. 8 by 2009,...but we cannot accomplish this alone.







