NRS Brakes announced today that Tim Stone has joined the company as Executive Advisor, supporting its North American aftermarket strategy, distribution development and channel partnerships.

The automotive aftermarket veteran brings retail ownership, distribution leadership and product committee experience to NRS as the company expands its galvanized brake pad strategy across North America.

Stone brings extensive automotive aftermarket leadership experience spanning retail operations, warehouse distribution, supplier relationships and product strategy.

He served as President and CEO of Performance Automotive, a group of automotive aftermarket stores in southern Michigan, before selling the business to Auto-Wares in 2012. He subsequently spent 13 years with Auto-Wares, building deep experience in the distribution channel and the commercial realities of bringing products to market.

Stone also served for seven years on the AAPA/Alliance product committee, contributing an additional industry perspective on product strategy and the needs of the traditional aftermarket.

His experience across retail, distribution and industry product development provides a valuable perspective as NRS Brakes works to expand its presence throughout the North American aftermarket.

“Tim understands something that is extremely important to us: the traditional aftermarket can win with technology,” said Montu Khokhar, CEO of NRS Brakes. “We don’t believe the future of brakes should be another painted pad in another box competing primarily on price. The opportunity is to give distributors, jobbers and technicians a product with a compelling engineering story—and a reason to sell up rather than sell down.”

NRS Galvanized Brake Pads feature the patented NRS mechanical retention system, which uses engineered hooks in the steel backing plate to mechanically secure the friction material. The backing plate is galvanized to provide corrosion protection.

This approach addresses two important considerations in brake pad design: backing plate corrosion and friction material attachment. NRS aims to bring this differentiated engineering approach to the replacement market while providing distributors and installers with a product story they can communicate to customers.

Stone will work directly with Khokhar and the NRS leadership team on North American aftermarket strategy, distribution development, channel partnerships and market education.

“The opportunity is bigger than selling another brake pad,” said Stone. “It is about giving the traditional aftermarket a differentiated product that distributors can stand behind, technicians can understand and customers can recognize as something genuinely different. NRS has the technology and the story. My role is to help turn that differentiation into opportunity throughout the channel.”

NRS believes product technology and meaningful differentiation can create new opportunities for the traditional aftermarket beyond competing primarily on price.

“Engineering fundamentals matter, whether a brake pad is installed on a new vehicle or sold through the replacement market,” Khokhar said. “Tim understands the distribution channel and what it takes to translate product differentiation into a program that works for warehouse distributors, jobbers and technicians.”

With Stone joining as Executive Advisor, NRS Brakes is focused on expanding its North American reach and helping the aftermarket better understand the technology behind its galvanized brake pad platform.

About NRS Brakes

NRS Brakes develops galvanized brake pads featuring the patented NRS mechanical retention system. The technology uses engineered hooks to mechanically secure friction material to a galvanized steel backing plate designed to provide corrosion protection. NRS technology has been used in original-equipment and aftermarket braking applications.