MIRAMAR, Fla. – At the annual meeting of its distributor council, held March 4-7 in Miramar, Fla., Auto 7 Inc. presented its “2013 Distributor of the Year” award to Chicago, Ill.-based Stone Wheel Inc., one of the largest automotive parts distributors in the Midwest. Accepting the award was Stone Wheel President Tim Renehan, who also serves as president of Auto 7’s Distributor Council.
 
“All of our distributors did a great job for us last year, but Stone Wheel really impressed us with their commitment to supporting our products,” said Auto 7 President Steven Kruss. “Because of their efforts, they were able to register year-over-year sales growth for both the Auto 7 brand and our companion brand, Precise.”
 
Auto 7 has an established network of stocking distributors across North America, six of whom were invited to serve two-year terms as members of the distributor council. The council meets three times a year: once at Auto 7’s corporate office followed by a meeting in Las Vegas during Automotive Week and then a mid-year conference call.
 
Jim Murphey, Auto 7’s senior vice president, founded the distributor council as a way for company executives to hear directly from its stocking distributors on ways they can enhance Auto 7’s products and programs.
 
“Listening to and learning from one’s customers is smart business, and Auto 7 has been doing this successfully for the past two years since forming its distributor council,” said Murphey. “It helps make us a better supplier and business partner for our distributors.”
 
During the council’s meetings, Auto 7’s management team shares all aspects of the company’s business model and challenges council members to provide candid input on what needs to be changed or modified to strengthen Auto 7’s value proposition. Also discussed is what Auto 7 can do to increase stocking distributors’ sales and margins.
 
Members of the Auto 7 Distributor Council for 2013-2014 are Tim Renehan of Stone Wheel; Young Suhr, vice president of APW, Carson, Calif.; Mike Mohler, vice president of National Pronto Association, Grapevine, Texas; Clark Johnson, president of Seth Johnson Sales, Sudbury, Mass.; Robert Roos, vice president of XL Automotive, Houston, Texas, and Yvan Dominigue, vice president of Monaco Group, Montreal, Quebec.