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NEWS
Continental Tyres Appointment
Continental Tyres appointed Tracey Hyem to the position of commercial marketing manager in October 2011.
Tracey is no stranger to the Continental brand having been with the manufacturer for eight years. Having initially joined as marketing communications manager, Tracey then moved into a role as brand manager for passenger car tyres – a position she held for five years – before taking up her current role as marketing manager for Continental’s commercial vehicle and industrial product lines.
With 17 years marketing experience, Tracey will be applying her extensive knowledge and expertise across
marketing initiatives.
Tracey said, “Truck, bus, coach and off-highway operators are under tremendous pressure to reduce their operational costs, however, we at Continental continue to support and work with customers to ensure they achieve the lowest whole life cost from their tyres. I am excited about working closely with our customers to help them achieve their targets and in particular, my team and I plan to take the ContiLifeCyle concept to the next level with the introduction of an extended retread range”.
Arthur Gregg, Continental sales and marketing director – commercial, said, “Tracey will play a pivotal role
in Continental’s UK and Ireland Commercial business and her in- depth knowledge of the tyre industry will stand her in good stead to help promote Continental’s range of premium tyres and retreads”.
Tracey lives in Berkshire with her partner, Andy, and her two sons, three-year old Sam and nine-month old Joe and in her spare time enjoys riding trails on her mountain bike.
Continental’s UK and Ireland operations to develop a comprehensive suite of trade
Goodyear Dunlop Invests in People
Goodyear Dunlop is pleased to announce new appointments for two of their senior managers within the Commercial division. The appointments of Bob Mason and Craig Sprigmore are in line with Goodyear Dunlop’s intention to improve consistency across the nationwide TruckForce network. The aim is to improve communication and streamline current procedures. Bob and Craig are currently Regional Business Managers for Goodyear Dunlop’s TruckForce network.
Bob is appointed to TruckForce Business Manager for the entire UK hub network and Craig is appointed Customer Strategy Manager, replacing Marc Preedy, following his appointment to Commercial Director. As part of this change, three TruckForce Hub Managers and one Business Development Manager will take on additional responsibilities to support Bob in his new role. The outcome of these appointments will see customers having one dedicated point of contact.
TruckForce provides a premium truck tyre service and breakdown assistance
support network across the UK. The team believes that commercial fleets unnecessarily overspend on both fuel and tyres. In turn, this has a detrimental effect on both fleet costs and the environment. Service providers must pro-actively service fleets to reduce these costs.
Goodyear Dunlop endeavours to seek solutions to the problems that fleets face on a day to day basis and then implement these solutions through its TruckForce network.
Marc Preedy, Goodyear Dunlop’s Commercial Director - UK, said: “At Goodyear Dunlop we work to consistently improve our lines of communication both internally and externally. I believe these new appointments which will see Bob as the dedicated point of contact for the UK, will go a long way to achieve this goal.”
“The appointments of both Craig and Bob are in line with Goodyear Dunlop’s dedication to being first with people, always seeking ways of improving our business and promoting internally."
In Akron, Goodyear has named Mark
Pillow director of business solutions, Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems. In his new role, Pillow will oversee Goodyear's business solutions portfolio, including the company's fleetHQ program, on-highway operations, and retreaded tyre business. He reports directly to Joe Copeland, vice president, Goodyear Commercial Tire Systems.
A 25-year Goodyear veteran, Pillow most recently served as director of commercial systems and off-highway tires for Goodyear Canada Inc., a role he assumed in 2007. Prior to that position, he served as general manager of national accounts, North America, and before that, director of Goodyear farm tyres. He also has held positions in engineering, consumer tire sales and marketing, and other areas of Goodyear's business.
"Mark is an outstanding leader with extensive management experience, and will play a key role in expanding our comprehensive offering of business solutions," said Copeland. "Having previously served as the leader of our national account business, he understands how fleets
operate, the challenges they face, and the importance of Goodyear's ability to provide fleet customers with value- added services that will help them reduce their operating costs. This knowledge, coupled with the experience Mark accumulated as the head of Goodyear's Canadian commercial tyre business, will prove invaluable as we continue to expand the portfolio of business solutions that we offer to our commercial customers."
The following Goodyear executives will report directly to Pillow: Bruce Woodruff, director of business solutions marketing; Roy Sutfin, vice president of fleetHQ; Clint Schrock, director of on-highway operations; and Jay Hofner, general manager, retreading.
"I look forward to continuing our focus on providing a total solutions package to our customers, including industry-leading tyre technology, as well as value-added services that will help fleets, owner-operators, and other end users run their businesses more efficiently and profitably," said Pillow.
Bauer Built Buys Walker Tire Commercial Division
Bauer Built Inc. has purchased the commercial division of Omaha, Neb.-based Walker Tire and Auto Service, company president Jerr y Bauer says.
Walker Tire and Auto Service has been in business for over 60 years in Omaha and will continue to operate its retail and wholesale locations, which are not any part of this transaction.
This acquisition is the result of an ongoing effort by Bauer Built to expand its existing operations as part of its overall growth plan. The
purchase will give the company a better presence in the Omaha market and also strengthen its presence across interstate 80 in the Midwest, the company reports. Dave Coufal, Bauer Built’s vice president of sales for its West Region, will be overseeing activities at this location. A number of the former Walker commercial division employees have been retained by Bauer Built. Bauer Built will continue to offer the same services and many of the same product lines offered by
Walker Tire and Auto Service including Michelin, BFGoodrich, Bridgestone, Firestone, Kumho and Hercules brand tyres. Additional services will be added based on customer needs, Bauer Built reports. Also offered will be the Michelin Retread Technologies Inc. process, which Bauer Built has been utilising since 1999. Durand, Wisconsin-based Bauer Built, like Walker Tire and Auto Service, has been in business for over 60 years serving the Midwest in the wholesale, commercial, and
retail distribution of tyres (new and retreaded), batteries, automotive services and related products.
Bauer Built has 29 tyre centres, nine wholesale distribution centres distributing products across the Midwest, and seven MRT (Michelin Retread Technologies) retread plants. It also is in the bulk petroleum business, which is what the company was originally founded on in 1944.
14 Retreading Business