Randy Breaux, the head of North American operations for Genuine Parts Company — and the former president of its Motion industrial parts business — will retire at the end of the year, company officials announced Monday.
He will be succeeded by Alain Masse, the president of Canadian GPC automotive subsidiary UAP Inc., who will take over a newly created role as president, North America automotive, in August. Breaux will serve in an advisory role until his retirement.
Breaux joined Motion in a senior vice president position in 2011; he was promoted to executive vice president in 2018 and to Motion president in early 2019. He led the MRO and industrial technology giant for more than four years — including through its blockbuster acquisition of Kaman Distribution Group in early 2022 — before assuming his current role in 2023.
"It is with great appreciation we share Randy's decision to retire. He has been an invaluable asset to GPC throughout his 14 years with the company, including his recent years as group president, GPC North America," Will Stengel, the company’s president and CEO, said in a statement. "His dedication to people and leadership has been instrumental in building strong, trusted relationships across our industrial and automotive segments.
Breaux had overseen both GPC’s industrial and automotive businesses, but company officials said Masse would be responsible for the company’s automotive businesses in North America. Motion is led by James Howe, who was named the distributor’s president last year.
