Jon Owens, MAAP, has joined the Epicor Software automotive business as senior account executive with responsibility for collaborative industry data analytics solutions for manufacturers and their channel partners. He is a sales and marketing executive with 32 years of experience in the automotive parts and service industry,
Owens joins Epicor after having served as vice president, market development, for the consumer-focused automotive service website AutoMD. Prior to that, he was vice president of sales and market development for the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance.
Owens began his career in 1985 with The Timken Co., where he led the re-emergence of the company’s automotive aftermarket division. He later joined trade magazine and digital publisher Babcox Media, serving as group publisher with responsibility for several automotive aftermarket titles. Owens also served as president of Auto 7, a parts importing company that specialized in platform-specific original equipment parts for Korean vehicles.
“Jon shares our passion for the success of automotive parts suppliers, distributors and vehicle service providers,” said Scott Thompson, vice president, automotive, analytics and content, Epicor. “He also has a deep appreciation of the significant value of Epicor’s extensive portfolio of analytics solutions for the industry. He will play an important role in helping these businesses increase market share while reducing costs through deep insight into product demand.”
Epicor has expanded its industry data analytics portfolio by focusing on collaborative projects enabling parts manufacturers to partner with key resellers within specific product categories and markets. These new capabilities will help these partners eliminate channel redundancy, streamline category inventory and more accurately align parts to specific locations so they are immediately available when needed, according to Thompson.
Owens has long been active in several industry organizations, including the Auto Care Association, where he served as a member of the board of directors and executive committee. He is a past president of the Automotive Communications Council, former member of the Automotive Warehouse Distributors Association (AWDA) board of governors, and past chairman of that organization’s marketing committee and Young Executives Society. He currently serves on the board of the Automotive Aftermarket Charitable Foundation and Auto Care Association Event Committee.
Owens was the 36th recipient of the AWDA Pursuit of Excellence Award, presented in 2002, and has received the Northwood University Automotive Aftermarket Education Award.
