Linglong Tire has promoted Italian executive Alessio Iacovelli to Deputy Director Replacement Sales West Europe, effective 1 September 2025. Based in Hanover, he will lead the regional team and oversee business development, partnerships and customer programmes across key markets including Germany, the UK, Italy and Spain. He reports to Lisa Zhao, Director of Replacement Sales West Europe, as the company accelerates European growth.
The appointment formalises a two-handed leadership model for Linglong’s Western European replacement business. Iacovelli will focus on day-to-day sales execution and account development while aligning growth plans with Zhao’s regional strategy. The company says the combined remit covers distributor support, key account retention and targeted channel expansion in Germany, the UK, Italy and Spain.
Iacovelli joined Linglong at the end of 2022 as Sales Manager for Italy, Spain and Portugal after earlier roles with Goodyear and Nexen. In Southern Europe he built aftermarket distribution, broadened retail presence and set growth frameworks with established partners. The promotion signals continuity of that approach at a wider scale.
Linglong’s current push in the region is underpinned by its Sport Master line in all-season and winter. In September, the Grip Master 4S, marketed going forward as Sport Master 4S, won the AvD price-performance award in a 205/45 R17 comparison, reinforcing value credentials for European buyers. The brand confirmed earlier in the year that ‘Grip Master’ ranges are being consolidated under the Sport Master name, simplifying messages to dealers and consumers.
Operational support for customers is increasing in Hanover, where Linglong Germany recently relocated with expanded office and workshop space to back European R&D and operations. That move gives West European sales teams closer access to testing and technical resources.
The manufacturer has also added European original-equipment (OE) visibility, including a recent fitment on Volkswagen’s latest Tiguan. OE gains typically support replacement demand in the same markets, a linkage distributors will watch as winter and all-season sales build.
Linglong has been signalling its European ambitions through customer and partner engagement, including a London summit to open its 50th-anniversary programme, a forum where channel priorities and product plans were set out to distributors. European production capacity is also scaling, with the Serbian plant anchoring local supply for regional customers.
For wholesalers and retailers, the leadership change clarifies contact points for West Europe and aligns commercial operations with local R&D and OE traction. In practice, that can mean faster programme roll-outs, more tailored support and closer integration with testing feedback loops in Germany.
“I am very pleased to have been promoted to Deputy Director Replacement Sales West Europe at Linglong Tire,” said Iacovelli. “We have fantastic products such as the Sport Master 4S and the Sport Master Winter, both successfully tested in recently published tyre tests… ideal conditions for achieving our ambitious goals together with my team and the colleagues in Hanover and continuing to grow, especially in Europe.”
Tagged with: Linglong Tire, West Europe replacement sales, aftermarket distribution, Sport Master 4S, winter tyres, OE fitments, Hanover R&D, tyre labelling compliance, European tyre plant, distributor partnerships
Disclaimer: This content may include forward-looking statements. Views expressed are not verified or endorsed by Tyre News Media.
Sign up for our weekly briefing on key developments across the sector.
