Cooper Tire Strengthens Presence in the Middle East with New appointments

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company Europe Ltd. Has strengthened its presence in the Middle East with two new appointments. Christophe Huss has taken on the role of Middle East Sales Director and Michiel Kramer has been appointed as the Marketing Director for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Cooper has been focusing on expanding its presence in the region over the past two years and has taken several steps to provide consumers in the region with better access to both the brand and its products. Cooper was the official tire sponsor of the Dubai International Motor Show 2015 and launched the Arabic version of the Cooper Tire website and marketing materials. Earlier this year, the company had appointed Arabian Tires as its distributor for Saudi Arabia – Arabian Tires.

The two new key executives will focus on increasing Cooper’s presence in the region by working closely with its regional partners. Commenting on his appointment, Huss said that Cooper already markets a wide range of products across five Middle East countries. The Middle East has a very diverse vehicle car parc, and Cooper’s diverse product portfolio of 4×4 and passenger tires perfectly matches this.

Huss is a veteran of the tire industry with over 20 years of experience in the international tire market. He is fluent in four languages; English, French, Italian and Spanish. He previously worked for companies like Marangoni and Bridgestone and his new role is a step up from his position as Regional Sales Manager – Middle East, Africa & Mediterranean.

Kramer is also familiar with the tire industry and has served as the Marketing Manager Europe and North America for Apollo Vredestein, where he had earlier worked in roles like Area Export Manager for Middle and Eastern Europe and Market Development Manager for the United States. He is joining Cooper Nedap Security Management, where he was Director of Channel Sales for Europe. As part of his new role, Kramer will oversee marketing, pricing, business intelligence and product management.

Huss and Kramer will report to Luis Ceneviz, Cooper’s Managing Director of Latin America Tire Operations and Managing Director of Europe Tire Operations with responsibility for the Middle East market.