ERJ People Tracker

Linglong Americas... Lanxess... Carlstar Group... Kumho Tire Europe... Toyo Tire North America... Mitas International... Falken Tyres... Vystar... Bayer MaterialScience...

ERJ listing of the latest high-level appointments from across the global rubber and tire industry sectors:

Shandong Linglong Tire Co Ltd. has hired John Hagan as chief operating officer (COO) for its Linglong Americas Inc division, with a liaison office in Medina, Ohio.

In its meeting on 17 March, the Lanxess supervisory board agreed to appoint Michael Pontzen as the chief financial officer (CFO) and member of the board of management effective 1 April. The board also agreed to propose Lawrence Rosen and Matthias Wolfgruber to its annual stockholders’ meeting on 13 May 2015, for election as members of the supervisory board. (Read more)

The Carlstar Group has appointed John Salvatore as CEO effective as of 16 March.  The former head of BASF construction chemicals Americas will replace Kevin Forster who will continue to serve as a member of the board of directors. CTP Transportation Products LLC, a producer of speciality tires, wheels, and industrial belts, announced in February that it has changed its name to the Carlstar Group LLC. (Read more)

Kumho Tire Europe has appointed Charles Kim as its president, Kumho, according to the Korean company.

Toyo Tire North America OE Sales (TNOE) has promoted John Ferguson to director of sales.  Ferguson has worked with TNOE since June 2012, first serving as a sales account manager. A graduate of The University of Findlay (Ohio), Ferguson has extensive sales experience with international organizations.

Mitas International has appointed Milan Šindelá? as its sales director, Mitas announced27 Feb. He takes over from Jaroslav Musil who is retiring after 17 years with Mitas. (Read more)

 Falken Tyre Europe, the European affiliate of Japanese tire manufacturer Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd, has appointed Shingo Sakashita to its board.  Sakashita assumes the position of finance director while joining the management team alongside Isamu Ishida, Koji Fukuhara and Hidekazu Nishiguchi, said Falken Tyre in an announcement

Vystar Corp., natural rubber latex producer, has selected Warren Binderman as its acting chief financial officer, effective immediately. President and CEO William Doyle previously handled the CFO duties. Doyle said Binderman has the public company experience the firm was seeking.

Minoo Mehta has been named as president of BKT Tires USA Inc, following the decision by Carl Casalbore to leave the company to "pursue other career goals".  Mehta was vice president of agricultural tire sales for BKT since last August.

The supervisory board of Bayer AG has appointed Richard Pott to the supervisory board of Bayer MaterialScience AG effective 26 March. It is intended that Pott should be elected as the new chairman of the supervisory board of Bayer MaterialScience, which is to be floated off by next year.  (Read more)

ContiTech AG, part of Continental AG, has appointed Charles Seymour as executive vice president of newly established business region ContiTech NAFTA. The appointment follows ContiTech’s acquisition of Veyance Technologies, Inc. at the end of January. Seymour was previously vice president and general manager for Veyance North America.  (Read more)

Smithers Group has appointed Nathaniel Leonard to vice president, North America, for the Smithers Rapra and Smithers Pira business groups. He replaces Jesse Roeck, who will retire in March after four years with Smithers and 35 years in the chemical and tire industries.

Laurette Koellner, the retired president of Boeing International, has been elected to the board of directors of Goodyear. Koellner, 60, most recently served as executive chairman of International Lease Finance Corp., a subsidiary of American International Group, Inc. until its May 2014 sale to AerCap Holdings.

Bridgestone Corp. has named Yoshiyuki Morimoto executive chairman of Bridgestone Americas Inc., succeeding Asahiko Nishiyama. Nishiyama will be vice chairman of the Bridgestone international organizing committee, and will also serve as senior vice president for the firm’s diversified products, sports and cycle business.

Orion Engineered Carbons SA has appointed Mark Leigh as its senior vice president rubber carbon black. Also head of America’s region, Leigh would continue to support that business until the company finds a replacement for his role. (Read more)

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has appointed Luis Ceneviz as its managing director — Latin America tire operations effective 1 March. Ceneviz will be responsible for the company’s business throughout Latin America, including Central and South America. (Read more)