Rick Phillips, longtime tire industry veteran and current vice president of sales, is leaving Yokohama Tire Corp. (YTC) after almost two decades to pursue other opportunities.

Phillips joined Yokohama in 1999 and moved up the ranks from district sales manager to manager of commercial sales. He was promoted to director of commercial sales in 2011, followed by senior director of commercial and OTR sales in 2013, then vice president of sales in 2015.

“We sincerely wish Rick well with his new endeavor and thank him for his contributions,” said Jeff Barna, YTC chief operating officer. “Yokohama’s leadership team is committed to maintaining the strong momentum that we are experiencing and will be moving quickly to fill this important position.”

Tire Review magazine had reported that Phillips is joining Triangle Tire USA as vice president of sales. Triangle Tire USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of China’s Triangle Tyre Co., is based in Franklin, Tennessee.