Continental Tire the Americas LLC has named John Barnes to head up the company's ContiLifeCycle business unit as it looks to expand its retreading business in North and South America.
By naming Barnes to lead LifeCycle activities, and implementing a full support organization in Mexico, Continental is "well on the road" to implementing its unique perspective toward retreading and the truck tire lifecycle, says Paul Williams, vice president for commercial vehicle tires.
“Naming John to this important position means that we have taken yet another crucial step to support the research and development, business activities, products and machinery for retreading in each market of the Americas."
Barnes, the Continental Commercial Vehicle Tire division’s former business development manager, has been overseeing the sourcing, construction and management of Continental’s new ContiTread retread plants in Mexico.
(See "CTNA to set up 15 retread plants in Mexico.")
He reports directly to Williams in this new role, and is based in Continental’s headquarters for the Americas in Fort Mill, S.C.
The novelty of Continental’s approach to the retread segment, Barnes says, was the greatest appeal to joining the ContiLifeCycle business unit.
“Our entire perspective is completely different than any other major tire manufacturer. Continental’s portfolio of retreading is exclusively built around the technologies and tread designs of our new tires, and we will be the first major manufacturer to build from the ground up without having any unlinked products that are separated between the design of the new tire and that of the retread.
“Currently, we have different products for each segment of the market, as well as each market we serve in the Americas -- NAFTA, Central America and the Andean Region, and Latin America," he says. "You can count on Continental to continue adding more products that are customized for the retreading needs of each market, until we have a full portfolio that covers all of the segments and mirrors our complete lineup of new tire products.”
For more information on the expansion of ContiLifeCycle, click "ContiLifeCycle plans to expand across the land."
