DETROIT — Sumitomo Rubber North America Inc. (SRNA) has promoted Cliff Stewart to director, original equipment sales of the company's Falken Tires subsidiary.
A six-year veteran of SRNA and the Falken brand, Stewart is based at the firm's Detroit office and works with several OE manufacturers (OEMs) to earn more factory-installed fitments on their firms' vehicles.
"This is an important new role for Cliff who has worked diligently in expanding Falken Tires' footprint in the OEM business," SRNA President and CEO Darren Thomas said.
"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. He has spent 16 of those years in the tire industry.
"We are projecting deliveries of more than 2 million tires this year to our OE customers, and most of those units will be Falken-branded," Stewart noted.
"Our team has developed excellent relationships with our OEM partners including Toyota, Stellantis, Ford and Subaru," he added. "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. And we'll continue to deliver on all those for years to come. It's an honor to be a part of Falken's OE Sales team and to be able to contribute to our growing sales and recognition."
