Yokohama Names 4 Vice Presidents and 1 Senior Director

Jan. 10, 2018

Six days after Jeff Barna was promoted to president of Yokohama Tire Corp., he's continued the company's promotion streak with five more announcements.

Bruce Besancon was named vice president of off-the-road tire sales. Besancon joined Yokohama as senior director of OTR sales in 2017. Before that, he was vice president of marketing at Alliance Tire Americas and has nearly 30 years of OTR tire experience, plus expertise in several areas, including product development and marketing. Besancon, who will report to Barna, has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.

Dan Funkhouser has been promoted to vice president of commercial sales and will report to Barna. Funkhouser has been with Yokohama since 1994 and has held several positions, including senior director of commercial sales. Funkhouser earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Central Michigan University.

Larry Kull has accepted the role of vice president of consumer sales and will report to Barna. Kull joined the company in 2003 as an account manager and has been promoted several times. He graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in marketing. 

Andrew Zeisser joined Yokohama in 2013 and is the new vice president of original equipment sales. Zeisser, who will report to Barna, has more than 37 years of experience in the OE arena and is responsible for the company’s OE business in North America. Zeisser holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Cleveland State University, as well as a MBA in management from Case Western Reserve University. 

Fardad Niknam has been promoted to senior director of consumer product planning and product marketing.  After roles in corporate planning and segment development, Niknam will support the company’s product and marketing initiatives in the U.S. In his new role, Niknam will continue to report to Andrew Briggs, vice president of marketing and product management. Niknam graduated from Shiraz University with a master's degree in mechanical engineering.

“At Yokohama, our number one strength is our people,” says Barna. “Bruce, Dan, Larry, Andrew and Fardad have definitely made important contributions across our business. As we continue to build upon our success, we felt this was the right time to broaden their management responsibilities through stronger leadership roles, while providing them the opportunity to contribute further to our growth.”

For more information on Yokohama, visit www.yokohamatire.com.