Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. has appointed Roy Armes CEO and president. He also was elected to Cooper's board of directors.
Armes will assume his new responsibilities Jan. 1, 2007. He will succeed fellow board member Byron Pond, who has served as interim CEO since August.
Armes comes to Cooper following a 31-year career at Whirlpool Corp. He has engineering, manufacturing, global procurement and international operations management experience. He also was involved in developing customer relationships and consumer-oriented products at the company.
"He has all the qualities we were searching for and the leadership capabilities to continue and successfully execute the company's plans for profitability," says Pond.
At Whirlpool, Armes most recently served as senior vice president, Project Management Office. He also has been corporate vice president and general director at Whirlpool Mexico; corporate vice president of Global Procurement Operations; and president and managing director of the company's Greater China operations.
"I am thrilled to be joining Cooper at a very exciting and challenging time of opportunity in North America and growth internationally," says Armes, who will re-locate his family to Findlay, Ohio, home of Cooper's headquarters. "I look forward to working closely with our management team and our global partners to continue Cooper's tradition of serving our customers and to improve the overall results and returns for our shareholders."
For an undesignated period, the "office of the chairman" will remain intact as it is currently constructed. The office is made up of directors Pond, John Shuey and Art Aronson.
