Chris Tolbert refers to Armstrong as "a quintessential American brand." The same can be said about Tolbert.
That is why the pairing of the tire industry veteran with Zafco International, owners of the Armstrong tire brand, seems to be a good fit. Tolbert is Zafco's vice president of sales for the East Zone. He will work with the North American sales team to build the iconic Armstrong brand in the radial passenger, light truck and truck tire segments from his base of operations in Hudson, Ohio.
In addition, he will help grow the Accelera, Forceum and Zeetex brands in the U.S. and Canada.
"It’s a great opportunity to help build a multi-brand strategy at Zafco and bring back a quintessential American brand that once had a strong and loyal distributor and customer base," says Tolbert. "Armstrong is a name that is well-recognized, not to mention the added value of having a cool mascot like Tuffy the Rhino."
Tolbert has spent more than 30 years in the tire industry. For the last year, he was director of business development in American Kenda Rubber Ind. Co. Ltd.'s Automotive Division. Prior to that he was part of the original sales group building the Nexen tire brand in North America as a senior sales director in the Great Lakes, Northeast and Southeast regions.
Before working at Nexen Tire America Inc., he held sales positions with Giti Tire (USA) Ltd., Tire Centers Inc. and Ziegler Tire & Supply Co.
Based in Miami, Fla., Zafco International manufactures and distributes automotive tires serving wholesalers and retailers across the Americas. For more information on Zafco, go to zafcointernational.com.
