Yokohama Tire Corp. (YTC) announced that Jeff Barna will join the company on Jan. 16 as chief operating officer. Barna will report to Shinichi Takimoto, YTC president, and will have responsibility for sales, marketing and product planning. Barna also will be on YTC’s executive committee.
According to Hideto Katsuragawa, CEO of Yokohama Corp. of North America and CEO of YTC, “Jeff is another strategic investment in the future of Yokohama Tire Corp. in the American market, like our modern manufacturing plant in Mississippi, new and upgraded distribution centers, new R&D technical center in North Carolina, stream of new products in the consumer, commercial and OTR space and commitment to expanded OE partnerships.”
Takimoto praised Barna’s extensive experience in the automotive aftermarket. “Jeff sold a range of products to many of the same high-quality companies that Yokohama sells to,” he said. “Jeff will work closely with our team to strengthen Yokohama and make us more valuable to our business partners. His experience starting at the street level of the auto parts business, to broader areas of responsibility, and right up to the board rooms of multinational companies is a perfect match for today’s competitive business climate and our lean team.”
Prior to Yokohama, Barna was successful in management, sales and logistics positions, most recently at Nilfisk-Advance Inc., an international company in the professional cleaning products and service industry. Prior to that, he was with Exide Technologies, a global battery manufacturer. Barna began his career at Tenneco Automotive selling Monroe shock absorbers to dealers and retail stores in the metropolitan New York market.
