HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Tire industry veteran Steve Hutchinson has founded Tire Brands America (TBA), a sales and marketing agency for foreign-sourced brands that don't have a U.S.-based sales team and/or who may be underserved in terms of sales and marketing.
Mr. Hutchinson most recently was an adviser to Federal Corp. Chairman Jamie Ma., and prior to that worked for Pro Comp Tire (Transamerican Auto Parts), Toyo TIre USA and Bridgestone Corp., as well as Castrol Heavy Duty Lubricants Inc. and Motul USA Inc.
Mr. Hutchinson, president and CEO of the new company, said he sees "a gaping hole" in the industry that needs to be filled.
"Somewhere, a lot is lost between foreign-based tire factories and the sales and marketing function," Mr. Hutchinson said. "We are here to fill that gap with a U.S.-based sales team of tire industry veterans."
He said some foreign brands "have been trying and struggling to ring the sales bell with a sales team in which English is a second language and from a time zone that has exactly opposite days and nights as we do in the U.S. In that sense, Tire Brands America serves those factories and their brands with our U.S. team."
