COLUMBUS, Ohio — American Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd. has hired Ken Albers, who has experience both with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Kumho Tire USA, to be its director, original equipment sales automotive, North America.
Mr. Albers will report to Kenda Vice President Brandon Stotsenburg, who said Mr. Albers has a "proven track record and demonstrated ability to understand customer requirements and achieve target performance for demanding OE goals."
He'll be working with the engineering team at Kenda's North American Technology Center in Green, Ohio.
Mr. Albers spent three years, 2012-15, with Kumho Tire as an engineer, and 10 months, Aug. 2011-May 2012, as the lead engineer at Magna Automotive Service G.m.b.H. He was a research engineer at the Army Research Laboratory in Cleveland from 2009-2011 and spent eight-plus years, 1999-2008, with Fiat Chrysler in various engineering capacities.
Mr. Albers said that the development of OE programs is "dependent on communication and coordination between overseas engineering, manufacturing facilities and the OEM customer."
American Kenda Rubber President Jimmy Yang cited Mr. Albers' engineering background — which spans electric appliances to hybrid vehicles — as key to helping Kenda meet its corporate goals of becoming a global OE supply partner.