Effective May 1, Cooper Tire and Rubber company and Kenda Rubber Industrial will be ending their marketing and distribution arrangement for the United States and Canada. Kenda will resume responsibility for the sales and marketing, distribution and customer service for the Kenda brand.
Since November 2004, Cooper has been the exclusive marketer of Kenda radial passenger and light truck tires in the United States and Canada. That agreement granted Cooper exclusive rights to market, sell and distribute Kenda’s radial passenger and radial light truck tires.
“The decision to end our marketing and distribution relationship was a mutual decision between Cooper and Kenda,” said Phil Caris, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Cooper. “And while the results of the joint venture were positive, it was agreed that a new approach would be beneficial in pursuing each company’s brand strategy. We have been very happy with our relationship with Kenda. As we begin to look into the future, we felt this strategy put both companies in a better position in this tough economic environment.”
(Source) Press
Tags: brand strategy, caris, cooper tire and rubber company, cooper tires, joint venture, kenda, light truck tires, marketer, sales and marketing, ties, vice president