Bridgestone EMEA’s Vice President and Senior Advisor Franco Annunziato has been elected as the new President of the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA).
Thierry du Granrut, from the Syndicat National du Caoutchoucet des Polymères, was confirmed as Vice President for a second term. Both terms are effective as of January 1, 2018 for a three-year mandate.
This is the first time that Bridgestone takes the Presidency of the European Association, showing the continued commitment of the Company to the industry as a whole and confirming its European presence and interests.
“The change at ETRMA’s helm comes at an interesting time for the industry with a new wave of regulatory initiatives that will engage the industry and the European institutions in the near future” said ETRMA’s Secretary General, Fazilet Cinaralp, welcoming the new President.
“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank our outgoing President, Kötz, who proved to be an engaged, driven and committed President, leading ETRMA through important successes, particularly with regard to Market Surveillance”.
Christian Kötz, from Continental, confirmed his satisfaction in this respect: “When I took office three years ago, I did so asking for a paradigm shift- from regulating to enforcing in order to achieve a level playing field and maintain the competitiveness of the industry. With the launch in 2016 of MsTyr15 and the revision of the Approval and Market Surveillance of Motor Vehicles Regulation, I think the foundations have been laid for more effective, stronger market surveillance”.
Annunziato, on accepting the appointment, thanked the Board for this opportunity: “We look forward to continue the great work done so far by the Association, to deal with the challenges that keep arising as well as to make the most of the opportunities. As Mr.Kötz said the path of our industry is clear: we keep innovating to care of our employees, the environment, and the consumers; to ensure the sustainability of the industry and the environment it works in, as ETRMA President I will continue to lead the Association in this direction”.
The Board of ETRMA also approved the membership of Prometeon Tyre S.r.l., as Affiliate member from September 2017.
ETRMA also published its annual report as well as its statistics report for 2017. The reports offer a summary of the main topics on which the Industry worked in the past eighteen months as well as the priorities on which the industry will focus going ahead. The European tyre and rubber industry remains a stronghold of European manufacturing and a stable and reliable partner in the automotive value-chain.