Jochen Etzel, CEO of Continental Tire the Americas LLC, will retire on May 1 and will be replaced by Tansu Isik, who will head up Continental's business area replacement tires the Americas.
Isik will report to Christian Koetz, executive board member of parent company Continental AG and the head of Continental Tires.
"Jochen Etzel has been a cornerstone of Continental’s tire business in the Americas, serving in this capacity since 2011," say Continental officials.
"He has played an important role in uniting the various Continental tire activities in the region and further strengthening their competitive position. This has significantly contributed to the company’s overall growth and success over the years. Etzel started his career as a lawyer in Continental’s corporate law department.
"He then took over a financial manager position, responsible for developing the company’s tire business in regions outside of Europe, before leading Continental’s corporate mergers and acquisitions team."
"Jochen’s impact on Continental’s tire business has been immeasurable," says Koetz. "On behalf of the entire Tires board, I want to sincerely thank him for his leadership, dedication and contributions throughout his tenure. We wish him a well-deserved and fulfilling retirement."
Koetz adds that "we are excited to welcome Tansu Işık into his new role as head of our business area replacement tires the Americas. With his deep tires expertise and strategic insight, he is perfectly equipped to build on our success and lead our tire business in the Americas into the future.”
Işık brings more than 20 years of international experience in a wide variety of markets and functions within Continental’s tires business, including marketing, supply chain, strategy and key account management.
According to Continental officials, he began his career as a business development specialist in Turkey. After obtaining various positions in the company, he moved to Continental AG's global headquarters in Hanover, Germany, to become head of pricing for the company's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
He then moved to Shanghai, China, as director and then-vice president for key account management (OE) for China and Continental's Asia-Pacific region, respectively.
From 2017, Isik worked as head of marketing for the company’s replacement tire business in the firm's EMEA region. He then led the strategic business development and global marketing organization of Continental.
He currently serves as the head of region south and channels fleet and OE trailer for Continental's replacement tire business in the EMEA region. In this role, he oversees business operations in multiple countries, leads Continental’s truck tire business in EMEA and is responsible for its retread and digital solutions business in the region.
