SANTA ANA, Calif. – Yokohama Tire Corporation has promoted five of its staff members.

Bruce Besancom has been named vice-president of OTR sales. He joined the company in 2017 as its senior director. In his new role, he will report to the company’s president, Jeff Barna.

Dan Funkhouser has been promoted to vice-president of commercial sales and will also report to Barna. Funkhouser, who has been with YTC since 1994, has held several positions, including senior director of commercial sales.

Larry Kull has accepted the role of vice-president of consumer sales. Kull joined YTC in 2003 as an account manager and has been promoted several times. He will report to Barna.

Andrew Zeisser joined YTC in 2013 and is now the new vice-president of OEM sales. Zeisser, who will report to Barna, has more than 37 years of experience in the OE arena and is responsible for the company’s OE business in North America.

Fardad Niknam has been promoted to senior director of consumer product planning and product marketing. After roles in corporate planning and segment development, Niknam will leverage his engineering background and market experience to support the company’s product and marketing initiatives in the U.S. In his new role, Niknam will continue to report to Andrew Briggs, vice-president of marketing and product management.

“At Yokohama, our number one strength is our people,” Barna said. “Bruce, Dan, Larry, Andrew, and Fardad have definitely made important contributions across our business. As we continue to build upon our success, we felt this was the right time to broaden their management responsibilities through stronger leadership roles, while providing them the opportunity to contribute further to our growth.”