Falken Tyre Europe appoints Yukio Yoshida as new corporate planning director

Jan. 12, 2012 - PRLog -- Offenbach, January 12th, 2012: Japanese tyre maker Falken has selected Yukio Yoshida to replace Satoru Ushida as corporate planning director at its European headquarters. Yoshida, 44, began his career at the parent Sumitomo Group in 1990 and has held several key positions at Falken Tire and Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) in Japan since then. Most recently, Yoshida was sales manager for the Asian region including China and Oceania. Ushida is returning to Japan, continuing to work for SRI.

"I look forward to building the Falken brand still further in Europe and boosting its public profile", says Yukio Yoshida, Corporate Planning Director. “My predecessor, Satoru Ushida, played a major role in developing Falken’s present status including the expansion of the sales and marketing operations at Falken Tyre Europe.”

Also with effect from January, Koji Fukuhara will take over as finance and administration director at the Offenbach headquarters. He will succeed Takesuke Ikeuchi, who is returning to Japan after a three year period in Europe. Fukuhara joined SRI in 1994. Most recently he was manager at SRI’s Domestic Tyre Sales Department before moving to Sales Administration, Accounting and Supply Chain Management of the Overseas Tyre Sales Department.

"Falken is a key area of focus for Sumitomo,” says Koji Fukuhara, finance and administration director at Falken. “We hope to build upon our positive results from last year. As a relatively new company, we have great plans for the future and I am looking forward to the challenges of my new position.”

About FALKEN High Performance Tyres:

The basis for technology and development of FALKEN High Performance Tyres and their extraordinary driving characteristics have formed motorsport for many years. FALKEN racing tyres prove their quality and performance in the most challenging race series in the world. These include the Super Taikyu Series, the American Le Mans Series, the World Rally Championship and particularly the legendary  24-Hour  Race  on  the  Nürburgring.  Through the systematic evaluation of experiences obtained in racing, new insights are gained, which then flow into series production via the shortest route. This results in outstanding products that meet the highest quality standards and have successfully proven themselves in international competition for many years.

All FALKEN products fulfil the ISO standards 9001 and 14001.

FALKEN is a brand of SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES LTD., Japan

Additional information:
www.falken-europe.de                    www.facebook.com/falkenmotorsports

Pressekontakt Unternehmen: FALKEN Tyre Europe GmbH, Stefanie Olbertz, Tel.: 069-247 52 52 – 61, Fax: 069-247 52 52–11, E-Mail: s.olbertz@falken-europe.de

For UK press enquiries: Propel Technology, Nick Bailey, Tel: +44 (0) 1295 724130, email nick@propel-technology.com