Prior to joining Akebono, Mr. Eldard was director of sales for Cooper Industries' Moog Automotive Division and western regional sales & service manager at SystemOne Technologies. He began his career as a counterman at a local auto parts store in Ogden, Utah.
In his new role, Mr. Eldard will lead all regional and district sales managers and sales agencies in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Latin America. He will maintain his GPC/NAPA responsibilities.
In addition, Mike Dunn has been promoted to western region sales manager, where his region includes all western and south-central states. Mr. Dunn joined Akebono in 2019 and formerly worked at Federal-Mogul Motorparts as a division sales manager.
Mr. Dunn will continue to manage his current customer accounts in the Pacific Northwest and Northern California territory .
Other changes to Akebono's aftermarket sales force include: Brian Horvath, national group sales manager, will now support select regional customers; and Dom Ramirez, eastern region district sales manager, will cover the midwest territory as well as oversee key Akebono customers in Mexico and Latin America.
The rest of the Akebono sales staff includes Lane Zemba, responsible for Southern California, Nevada and Arizona; Michael Bruening, responsible for all south-central states; Mike Spain, covering all southeastern states; and Bill Perlmutter, covering Pennsylvania, New York and all northeastern states.