COLUMBUS, Ohio—Chris Tolbert, who has three decades worth of experience in the tire industry, has joined American Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd. as director, business development for the firm's North American automotive business team.
Tolbert will report to Vice President Brandon Stotsenburg.
"We are excited to have Chris as part of our team sharing the goal to accelerate Kenda's strong sales and brand awareness in the (passenger) and (light truck) segment with premium performance at a value price," Stotsenburg said.
Tolbert spent the past 10 years at Nexen as senior sales director in the Great Lakes, Northeast and Southeast regions for Nexen Tire America Inc., building the brand in North America. Prior to his stint at Nexen, Tolbert held sales positions with Giti Tire USA Ltd., Tire Centers Inc. and Ziegler Tire & Supply Corp.
Kenda has additional tire production and new products set to start later this year.
"We will help Brandon and the sales team grow the Kenda tire brand with distributors, retailers and expand the Traction Dealer Network," Tolbert said. "With the high performance tire developed by the Kenda America Technical Center and with the additional capacity from newly completed Vietnamese factory, it is exciting time to help grow our market share in North America."