Latin American Tyre Show makes successful return

PANAMA CITY, Panama — They are talking tires — as well as automotive service parts — in Panama for the first time since 2019.

The Latin American & Caribbean Tyre and Latin Auto Parts Expo are being held concurrently in Panama City, four years after the last expo was held. The show was canceled the last three years by the pandemic.

The show is being held June 14-16 at the new Panama Convention Center. The show is the largest tire and auto show held at the venue.

More than 500 exhibitors from across the globe are attending the show. More than 4,000 buyers, representing more than 30 countries, were expected to walk the venue.

According to Linda Bassitt, senior event director for the Latin Expo Group L.L.C., exhibitors "were filled with positive reviews of buyers and meeting with new and old customers. Buyers were impressed with the new facility and how many products and companies were present."

Former Bridgestone Corp. executive Eduardo Minardi delivered the keynote speech June 15. Minardi touched on a variety of topics in his keynote, "How disruptive trends in the mobility and tire business are changing the way we do business."

Minardi not only discussed the perspective of tire manufacturers and what their priorities are, but also tire dealers and what they need to do in order to be prepared for the future.

Minardi retired from Bridgestone in 2017 and soon after founded Minardi Global, a consulting firm.

During his 28 years with Bridgestone, Minardi held various positions of leadership, including chairman of both Bridgestone Europe and Bridgestone Americas, executive vice president and executive officer of Bridgestone Corp., as well as having a seat on Global Executive Committee in Japan.

David Stevens, CEO, of theTire Retread & Repair Information Bureau (TRIB), also spoke. He discussed the merits of retreading, focusing on how the industry not only saves fleets money but also helps preserve the environment.

Othee speakers included David Shaw, CEO, Tire Industry Research, who spoke on the Chinese tire industry and the challenges it faces; William Veder-Ardila, commercial manager of Hankook Tire & Technology, whose presentation was on the development of tires for electric vehicles; Guilherme Soares, aftermarket manager, BorgWarner Brasil Ltda., who discussed automotive electrictrification from the BorgWareer point of view and Alejandro Yepez of Denso Corp., who talked about the automotive aftermarket.