Ken Levy Joins AutoCom Associates as Senior Partner

DETROIT, March 21 -- Ken Levy, former vice president of communications for DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group, has joined AutoCom Associates as a senior partner and president of international operations.

Based in New York City, Levy will be responsible for the further development of AutoCom's international automotive business, as well as client services in Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

"Ken Levy will greatly strengthen the support we provide clients on a global basis and will offer financial communications and media relations assistance to AutoCom clients in North America, including the all-important East Coast area," said Larry Weis, the agency's president and CEO. "In the automotive arena, AutoCom with Ken Levy now has one of the world's strongest public-relations teams."

Headquartered in the Detroit area, the firm has provided communications counsel for automotive and high-tech businesses since 1995, when Weis left Ford Motor Company to form the agency with Senior Partner Jack Harned, a former communications executive at General Motors.

Levy's public relations background also includes international management experience at both General Motors and Ford. Fluent in German, he started out in the auto industry with Ford in 1977 as foreign press and information manager for Ford-Werke AG in Cologne, Germany.

He later joined GM as manager of European passenger-car press relations for Adam Opel AG in Ruesselsheim, Germany, and in 1986 was appointed director of news relations for General Motors Europe with headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

Levy went on to serve as GM's executive director-International Operations and Media Relations with responsibility for public affairs activities in Europe, as well as Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.

He joined DaimlerChrysler in 2000 at the company's North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., where he was responsible for all Chrysler Group internal, external and product communications. He left DaimlerChrysler in 2004 to open a public relations consultancy in New York.

"I'm very pleased to be part of the AutoCom team," Levy said. "AutoCom has a fine reputation in the industry in the United States and internationally. I hope that together we can grow the business as we continue to provide clients with the professional expertise they have come to expect from AutoCom for the past decade."

A native of New York City, Levy holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

Located in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, AutoCom provides management communications consulting and public relations services to businesses working in the global automotive industry. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the firm is a member of the International Public Relations Network (IPRN) with more than 40 affiliate agencies, 500 employees and $40 million in annual billings.

AutoCom's client partners include: the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), Behr America, Cendrowski Corporate Advisors, Doeren Mayhew/Whitehall LLC, dSPACE, FEV Engine Technology, Gage Products Company, Grammer Automotive, GKN Driveline, GKN Sinter Metals, Hella North America, Hella Inc., Kolbenschmidt Pierburg, Launch Systems, MANN+HUMMEL, Novelis, Office for Foreign Investors in Wallonia (Belgium), Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, the Stuttgart Economic Development Corporation, Safford & Baker PLLC and TI Automotive.

An award-winning agency, AutoCom also provides "pro bono" support to a number of charitable and non-profit organizations, including Focus: HOPE, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan and the Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra.

The agency is located on the Internet at http://www.usautocom.com/ .