Prestolite Electric Incorporated has announced that Travis Atkinson was appointed as its National Accounts/Fleet Sales Director, effective January 1, 2014. In this newly created role, Mr. Atkinson is responsible for all North American sales, marketing and business development activities for Leece-Neville vehicle alternators and starter motors. He also leads a team of highly trained and experienced direct sales personnel, each of whom is fully and exclusively dedicated to fleet customer needs. Mr. Atkinson has been a well-respected sales executive within the alternator and starter motor marketplace for nearly 30 years. This notably included nine years in key accounts management at the original Prestolite Electric. Prior to his initial tenure with Prestolite, Mr. Atkinson served for 17 years as a technical product development and training specialist for commercial bus manufacturer Blue Bird Corporation. Here, he actively collaborated with sales personnel in more than 47 countries. He then went on to serve as the technical service director and key accounts manager for one of the world’s largest distributors of heavy-duty rotating electrics.

Mr. Atkinson remains an active member and participant of both the Technical Maintenance Council North America – Asia Pacific and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). In addition, he is recognized with two design patents and six design registrations.

Notes Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Jim Beirne, “We are pleased to welcome Travis Atkinson back to the Prestolite Electric/Leece-Neville team. Particularly, during such an exciting year for our company. We are confident that our customers will greatly benefit from his extensive wealth of technical product, application and market knowledge, and particularly, his unique in-depth understanding of the fleet marketplace. With this newly dedicated sales channel, we look forward to continuing our commitment to product quality, reliability, and fleet customer support.