Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. says it will establish an overseas subsidiary in Germany on May 1, 2014.It will be called Toyo Tire Deutschland GmbH (TTD).
Previously, all tire sales for the German and Austrian markets were handled by the sales division of Toyo Tire Europe GmbH (TTE), a tire sales subsidiary headquartered in Germany that served the entire European region. However, as part of reorganization with the intent of bolstering the European tire sales business as a whole, this division will be spun off into an independent entity specializing in sales.
As a result of the spin-off of the sales division, European sales subsidiaries Toyo Tyre (UK) Ltd. (UK), Toyo Tire Benelux B.V. (the Netherlands), Toyo Tire Italia S.p.A. (Italy), Toyo Tire Rus LLC (Russia) and TTD "can concentrate on sales activities, and TTE as a holding company will establish management function to strengthen the controlling function of each subsidiary," says the parent company. The restructuring also "will promote cohesive pricing policies and integrated marketing, optimal distribution and more agile management."
"While the European market remains potentially unstable due to the debt crisis and other factors, the business environment appears to have bottomed out, and Toyo Tires' business has been rallying steadily on an upward trend.
"In addition to supplying the European market with high-value-added tires from our Malaysian plant that began operation in May of last year, aggressive branding initiatives highlighted by the enhancement of the controlling functions of TTE and the recently announced premium sponsorship agreement with AC Milan are evidence of our efforts to further boost the presence of the Toyo Tires brand."
Naoki Gonsui will be president of TTD. He will remain president of TTE. Both companies are based in Willich, Germany.
