Lumileds has appointed Dave Illes as director of sales for the North American Automotive Aftermarket. He will be responsible for all sales channels and customers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.
Illes is a proven veteran of the automotive aftermarket with more than 25 years of executive sales and account management experience. Prior to joining the company, he held a variety of sales management positions during his 17 years at Tenneco Inc. From 2010 to 2017, Illes was Tenneco’s director of national sales – Canada before moving to director of strategic accounts for the North American Aftermarket. He also was regional sales manager from 1999 to 2010. In between his time at Tenneco, Illes served Philips Automotive Lighting from 2009 to 2010 as its senior sales manager for the North American Automotive Aftermarket.
“We are extremely excited to have Dave Illes heading up our aftermarket sales. Dave comes to us with a wealth of knowledge and sales expertise in the automotive parts industry, as well as the lighting business. His proven leadership and sales success in the traditional, retail, performance and commercial vehicle markets will go a long way in helping us to substantially grow and expand our business. We are very fortunate to have Dave on our team and look forward to his contributions,” said Eric Hatty, Lumileds regional vice president and general manager North America Automotive.
“It’s great to be back with Lumileds, which is a premier OE and aftermarket supplier of high-quality, technologically advanced and innovative automotive lighting products. This is a world-class lighting manufacturer with a tremendous growth opportunity in the North American automotive aftermarket, and I am honored to be a part of it,” added Illes.
Illes holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in automotive aftermarket management from Northwood University and an associate’s degree in business-transportation and distribution from Sheridan College (Ontario). He is a past-chairman of AIA Canada Young Executive Society and a member of AIA Canada CEO Roundtable.
