Kumho unveils goals at annual meeting

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.

Kumho’s redesigned logo, also unveiled at the SEMA Show, dotted the landscape at the site of the annual meeting, the Gran Melia resort in Cancun.

Kumho displayed several new products recently introduced at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in November.

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. “It’s hard to sell the product when you can’t get it,” he said, though he added he’s optimistic the problem will improve.

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 company’s message to retailers.

Rick Brennan, Kumho’s brand manager, said getting to No. 5 isn’t just a matter of filling the void between Kumho’s 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.”

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 2006—a 15-percent improvement—and is on track to record $610 million in sales this year, he said.

B.K. Kim, Kumho Tire U.S.A. Inc. president and CEO, outlines the firm’s goals to dealers—and expresses dealers’ important role in achieving those goals—during Kumho’s annual meeting in Cancun, Mexico. “2007 and beyond will bring many new challenges and that’s not only for the tire industry but also Kumho Tire Co.,” he said. “Kumho’s 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.”