PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic—As part of a number of recent personnel changes at Kumho Tire U.S.A. Inc., Armand Allaire, former national sales vice president, has left the company.
Before joining Kumho in 2010, Allaire formerly was vice president of sales for Toyo Tire USA Corp.
During the 2013 Kumho Dealer Meeting in Punta Cana, Harry Choi, CEO and president at Kumho Tire, said the move came as a bit of a surprise, but the company is moving forward and is looking for his replacement. Kumho officials did not comment on why Allaire left the company.
Choi said he did not want to hire someone based on just necessity, but someone who is qualified.
“We are trying to find the right person,” he said.
The company prefers to search methodically for a replacement for Allaire, according to Choi.
The revolving door of personnel changes for Kumho this year has included Choi coming on as CEO and president in January to replace J.B. Kim. Rick Brennan, Kumho Tire's former vice president of marketing, also left the company in 2013 to join Falken Tire Corp. as that company's executive director of product strategy.
Choi said it has been “a process” to get through the turnover in the sales department this year, but compared the situation to an automobile, saying sometimes you have to put a new engine into a car.
The company is “not fully reshaped,” he said, but is “almost redone.”
Kirk Papazian, divisional vice president of sales who came on board two and a half months ago, said Allaire's absence has not changed Kumho's direction.
“Our goal is to build stability,” he added.
Kumho has emphasized becoming more flexible to meet its dealers' needs over the past year.
Choi said the new vice president of sales will be announced soon.