Alpine Electronics of America announced the retirement of industry veteran Jim O’Neill, Executive VP of OEM and aftermarket sales & marketing effective March 30. O’Neill also serves as the president of Alpine Electronics of Canada.
He will continue as an advisor to Alpine. Steve Crawford, VP and GM of Alpine’s aftermarket business unit will takeover as President of Alpine Canada.
O’Neill has been an employee at Alpine for 40 years. He began working near in his native town of Chicago for Motorola in 1968 in product planning and then transferred to Alps-Motorola (a venture between the two companies) in 1972. He worked as an account manager, selling 8-track tapes to major home electronics companies.
In 1978 Alpine became a separate company in Torrance, CA. and O’Neill moved west to join Alpine in 1980, serving as an OEM sales manager. Alpine signed initial contracts with BMW and Honda and under O’Neill’s leadership, added Mercedes Benz, Jaguar, Chrysler, Toyota and Acura.
O’Neil was promoted to Senior VP of OEM sales in 1992 and he became the first American Alpine employee to serve on the board in 1996. By this time, O’Neill was also involved in Alpine’s aftermarket business and was named Executive VP of OEM and aftermarket sales & marketing in 1997. He was also appointed President of Alpine Electronics of Canada the same year.
“His wisdom and business acumen shaped the foundation of our OEM division, which remains a key part of our company. We greatly appreciate his many years of dedication and service to Alpine,” said Kazunobu Watanabe, Alpine Electronics of America President.
O’Neill plans to spend time with his wife Sandi, two children, and four grandchildren. He is an avid reader and golfer, and is looking forward to having more time to cheer for his beloved Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears.
Source: Alpine
Jim has always been a gentleman and a “behind the scenes” leader at Alpine and the Mobile Electronics industry in general. Over the years I have enjoyed absorbing his very deep knowledge and vision of the 12 volt industry. I never came away without an improved direction and different angle of where this mobile business was headed. A quiet man….with a “very loud” understanding what is takes to win in mobile electronics! Enjoy the rest….and wishing you all the best. Thank you for your support over the years! Dan Jeancola
Congratulations Mr. Jim! Wow… how time flys. If you recall, We talked about your retirement when we bumped into each other at LAX last year. Speaking from experience, retirement is pretty damn nice! Wish you and your wife all the best!