Although attendance statistics are not yet finalized, official sources confirm that there were 230 exhibitors from 80 countries and roughly 4,000 trade visitors from 50 countries at the 2014 Latin American & Caribbean Tyre Expo held in Panama City recently.
At the event, several key executives from Bridgestone Tire Americas Inc., Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., Continental Tire the Americas LLC and Hules Bando spoke on topics varying from new marketing techniques to consumers to the ecological advantages of using retreaded tires.
In addition, Mr. Matt White, Director of Tire Service for the Tire Industry Association (TIA), spoke on the new training and certification programs that the Association has produced in both English and Spanish. A new farm tire training program has been introduced this year, and Mr. White said a new earthmover tire certification program will be finalised in 2015, as also an industrial tire training program. TIA has trained more than 88,000 technicians to date.
Wrapping up the general session, Mr. David Stevens, Managing Director of the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau (TRIB), introduced a “Rubber on the Road” video that will be used to debunk common misperceptions about the rubber found on highways.
The 2015 Latin American & Caribbean Tyre Expo is scheduled for July 29-31 at the Atlapa Convention Center in Panama City.