Tire industry veteran John Aben has joined Giti Tire (USA) Ltd. as a senior vice president.

Aben recently left Nexen Tire America as senior vice president of sales, a position he had held since 2011. Giti said he will work with the company’s executive team to strengthen the position of Giti’s brands with distributors, dealers and retailers in the North American replacement tire market, as well as foster business with original equipment manufacturers in North America.

Julianto Djajadi, executive vice president of business operations for Rancho Cucamonga-based Giti Tire (USA), called Aben a well-respected tire industry veteran and said he will play a key role in helping the firm continue to grow its market share in North America and ensure that its planned passenger and light truck tire manufacturing plant in South Carolina becomes a tremendous asset to its North American customers.

In February, the company's parent Giti Tire Group broke ground on a $560 million passenger and light truck tire plant in Chester County, S.C., near Richburg.

Aben has been in the tire business for 33 years, according to Giti, with experience on the retail, commercial, wholesale and manufacturing sides of the industry. His past experience includes 16 years at National Tire Warehouse and Sears Tire Group, and he also held management positions with Winston Tire Co. and Tire Centers L.L.C.

Aben has been, Giti noted, “a long-standing tire industry analyst in the areas of territory expansion, market identification, vendor relations, negotiating, key account retention, P&L management and team building/mentoring.”

Giti Tire (USA) markets the GT Radial, Primewell, Dextero and Runway brands in the U.S. and Canada. It is the sales, marketing and distribution arm in North America for Singapore-headquartered Giti Tire Group, which operates seven tire plants in China and one in Indonesia.

Source: rubbernews.com