Sumitomo Rubber North America Inc. (SRNA) has promoted Cliff Stewart to director of original equipment sales for the company's Falken brand.
A six-year SRNA veteran, Stewart is based out of the company's Detroit, Mich., office "and works with several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to earn more factory-installed fitments among their vehicles," say SRNA officials.
“This is an important new role for Cliff, who has worked diligently in expanding Falken Tires’ footprint in the OEM business,” says Darren Thomas, president and CEO of SRNA.
“Falken has enjoyed significant growth in this marketplace over the past five to six years and that started with gaining trust and building strong relationships. I attribute a lot of our success in those efforts to Cliff.”
Stewart has more than 20 years of automotive industry experience, with varied roles in business development, marketing, sales and purchasing, including time at an OEM.
When he joined SRNA, the Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based company was selling approximately 700,000 OE units, most of them not Falken-branded.
"Discussions that year were just beginning with many manufacturers, including Toyota," say SRNA officials. "This year, Toyota will become SRNA’s largest OE partner."
“We are projecting deliveries of more than two million tires this year to our OE customers and most of those units will be Falken-branded,” Stewart notes.
“Our team has developed excellent relationships with our OEM partners, including Toyota, Stellantis, Ford and Subaru. All these customers are important to our overall success in the marketplace. The OEMs value what Falken brings to the table in terms of our product performance, quality and customer focus."
