Kumho Tire Names New CEO

Kumho Tire Co. has promoted Jeon Dae-jin to president and CEO of the struggling South Korean company.

Jeon has been serving as acting CEO since December, when Kim Jong-ho resigned after returning as CEO in 2017 to revive the company. Jeon joined Kumho in 1984 and has managed company factories in Korea and China.

Yesterday Kumho reported that its net losses in 2018 nearly doubled to 205.5 billion won ($182 million). The company had been under the control of its creditors for a decade until last spring.

But in April Chinese tiremaker Qingdao Doublestar Co. prevailed in a long-running offer to buy a controlling stake in the company. Doublestar has agreed to invest about 846 billion won ($803 million) to revive Kumho and upgrade production operations.