Yokohama Tire Corporation announces three organizational changes

Santa Ana, CA – Yokohama Tire Corporation (YTC) announced three organizational changes within the company. The changes, effective now, include:

Fardad Niknam has been promoted from senior director of consumer product planning and product marketing to vice president of OE Sales. Niknam joined YTC in 2014 and has had responsibility for product marketing, including product planning and motorsports for the last five years. According to Jeff Barna, YTC president and CEO, Niknam “will be responsible for guiding OE sales in the U.S. and establishing forward-looking strategies that are linked to YTC’s overall business goals in his new role.”

Ray Polentz has been promoted from senior director of supply chain and logistics to vice president of supply chain and logistics. “Ray has led this team for the past year under unprecedented circumstances and never before seen challenges as the global supply chain continues its march toward recovery in a post-pandemic world,” said Barna.

Pavan Desaneni has been promoted from vice president of information technology (IT) to chief information officer (CIO). “Pavan has led our digital transformation efforts and will continue to do so as Information Technology and the related systems become increasingly important to our business,” said Barna.